YuGiOh! ORichalcos
by Sanokal
Summary: As Mai Valentine attacked Pegasus at Industrial Illusions America, her sister attacked the Tenma brothers at Industrial Illusions Asia. Unfortunately, Yako and Gekko put up one hell of a fight - it's the powers of the Orichalcos against those that Yako brought into being. OC belonging to Cosmic Kiss appears as a major character in this story. Please read, rate, and review.
1. Blinding by the Light!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos.**

**I said that I wasn't going to leave the R series behind just yet. **

**Pegasus ended up copping it pretty quickly in the anime Waking the Dragons. What I wonder though, what happened to the Asian division of Industrial Illusions, where Yako Tenma claimed he was from in chapter 1 of R? **

**Here's what I think happened. And what Yako did when he learned that Pegasus had been taken from them once again.**

**This won't be updated as regularly as R, as it will be all original. An OC from Cosmic Kiss, who is just awesome, will be appearing in this fic, and depending on what happens, this may or may not tie in with the canon of her fic "The Edge of Doma."**

**I'll only say it once: I don't make any claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh! Cozzy owns her OC.**

_Blinded by the Light!_

_Maximillion Pegasus breathed heavily on the roof of Industrial Illusions America.__It was the end of the duel; Pegasus still had 100 life points, and Thousand Eyes Restrict and Harpies' Pet Dragon on the field. _

_His opponent's field was filled with six powered-up Harpie Ladies. "Did you think it was fun to steal people's souls at Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus?" she asked. "Now it's time for me to have a little fun." She selected a card in her hand, and slid it into her disk. "I activate Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation! Since I have six Harpies, I can destroy up to six of your monsters."_

_Pegasus gasped as his monsters were destroyed, and the sum of his monsters' attack points was taken from his life points. He screamed and crumpled to the ground as a cylinder of green light closed around him._

"Aaggh!" screamed Yako Tenma, bolting upright in his bed.

He brushed a lock of silver hair out of his face, sweating hard, and walked over to the window, only wearing his sleep trousers.

Yako looked out over Domino City, from the window of Industrial Illusion Asia, and wondered why he was so worried.

"What a horrible nightmare," he remarked. "Master Pegasus . . ."

He walked to the door, and headed up the stairs to the roof. It might have been the middle of the night, but he needed fresh air.

On a camera screen, three figures watched Yako move up the stairs.

"What, no sly comments, missy?" asked a blond man with slightly tinted irises and blue-white robes.

"Be quiet," shot back the girl, also blond and wearing a white corset top, black shorts and a black sleeveless jacket. She turned to the third teen, a redhead in maroon combat robes. "You'd better be as good as you say you are. Got that, newbie?"

"Don't worry, this weakling won't know what hit him," said the redhead confidently.

The blond boy snorted. "This 'weakling' beat Seto Kaiba with one attack. This weakling created a divine power from an idea. If you take him lightly, you'll end up toast."

"Please," said the redhead. "This guy's always been weak. You probably thought he was his brother. This'll be easy." He walked out of the door, and headed for the same rooftop that Yako was headed for.

Yako threw the door open and walked out into the cold night. The wind that brushed over his bare chest stung, but he ignored it, breathing in cool lungfuls of air.

"Isn't it nice?" said a rather brutal voice.

Yako whirled around instantly at the sound of the voice. A fiery headed teen in maroon combat robes stood before him, with a blue device that appeared to be a duel disk on his left wrist. He grinned at the shocked man's face.

"See I just love walking shirtless onto a roof in the middle of the night waiting to get ambushed too," joked the teen. Then he frowned. "Come on, little Yako, don't you recognise me?"

Yako frowned, and then gasped. "Quinn Blaine?" he asked.

Blaine laughed. "So the famous bad copy remembers my name."

Yako clenched his fist at the insult. Then he realised what Blaine had said. "Ambushed?" he asked.

"That's right!" crowed Blaine, and a portion of the blue disk he was wearing slid out and deployed a nasty looking scythe with five slots and five T-shaped areas on it.

The Tenma brother gasped at the sight of the disk. "How did you get up here, Blaine?" he asked.

Blaine grinned. "Oh, I have my friends," he sneered. "But you're completely alone little Yako."

Yako sighed. "Stop it."

"_Stop it,"_ mimicked Blaine childishly.

Yako gritted his teeth. "So, do you want a duel, then?" he asked.

"Why of course!" said Blaine in mock surprise. "Why else would I deploy this threatening looking duel disk if I didn't want a duel?"

Yako ignored him and headed to the door. He typed in a code, and a grinding sound pierced their ears as a chute rose up from Yako's room. The door opened to reveal a duel disk and a deck enclosed within.

Yako strapped on the disk, and readied it, shifting it to duelling mode. "Let's go! Time to duel!" he called, and they drew their starting hands.

Blaine moved first. "I draw!" he called. "I'll throw out the shrimp known as Solar Flare Dragon, in attack mode!" (1500/1000) he said.

A serpent that appeared to be made of lava and flame appeared in front of him and hissed.

"Next I'll play these two spices!" laughed Blaine. "Two Tremendous Fire's!" he laughed. "I take 500 damage for each, but you take double that!"

Yako screamed as he was surrounded by fire, dropping his life points to 2000, while Blaine laughed as his own life points dropped to 3000.

"Next I'll add a card facedown to the dish," said Blaine. Then he face-palmed himself. "Oh my! I almost forgot the secret ingredient!" He slid a card into the field zone on his disk. "I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" he yelled.

"The what?" asked Yako, before a blast of green light blinded him.

A massive green band inscribed with a strange language expanded out from Blaine. The band encircled Yako and he yelled in shock as he felt something pass through him.

Then, green lines extended out from the edges, drawing an asymmetrical six pointed star.

Yako could only watch in shock.

Down below, Gekko Tenma raced into the security room.

"What just happened?" yelled the Perfect Duelist.

"Some kind of shock on top of the building!" responded Richie Merced from a control console, still in his sleepwear. "The cameras are down, so we can't see what the heck's going on up there!"

Gekko slammed his fist into the wall. "I'm going to go check on Yako!" he called.

Yako looked at the Seal in shock. "This seal," he whispered. "I saw inscriptions about this seal when I was researching the mystic science system!"

Blaine, the Seal glowing in his head, laughed at that. "This Seal gives me more power than all three of your Wicked God cards!" he laughed.

"Impossible!" said Yako. "Nothing could be that strong."

Blaine snickered. "Think what you like, Yako. This Seal could elevate me to the top of the Card Professor's Guild!" he said.

Yako glared at him. "Are you serious?" he asked. "That's what this is all about?"

Blaine grinned. "This Seal will trump any deck! Willa's White-Horned Dragons, Richie's effect monsters, Tilla and her master, the Perfect Duelist, and even you, Yako! I've heard about your strength increase!" He clenched his fist. "Now you're the most powerful duelist in this building! A duelist who could rival the King of Games himself in strength, one who defeated the mighty Seto Kaiba himself!" He chuckled. "You, my friend, are one hell of a seasoning! The Great Beast will love the taste of you!"

Yako frowned. "What are you babbling about? End your turn."

"With pleasure," said Blaine. "But first, I explain the effect of the power of the Orichalcos! Every monster on my field gains 500 attack points!" Solar Flare Dragon hissed as its eyes glowed red, and it charged up to 2000 attack points. "Now I end my turn," said Blaine. "And now Solar Flare Dragon takes a bite out of your life points with its effect!" he called. The flaming creature blasted a ball of fire at Yako, smashing into him with a massive crash.

Yako screamed in pain as the flames surrounded him.

"See," said the blonde teenage boy. "I told you this guy would be fine. Card professors are so easy to manipulate."

The girl sighed, and chewed on her nails nervously. "You do know how much information this guy has let slip about us? First he says he's not alone. Then he reveals just how strong the Seal of Orichalcos is. And now he's just told Tenma about the Great Beast."

The boy shrugged. "Look, he's not exactly irreplaceable. If he gets Tenma's soul, then we're all good, and you can get all the credit from Master Dartz. But with Tenma having lost most of his life points in the first turn, he's as good as gone."

Yako Tenma hadn't felt such pain since his burning by Ra. He struggled as his life points dropped down to 1500. He grasped the top card of his deck. "My turn," he groaned. He drew with a flourish. "I summon this monster from my hand!" he called. "Beast King Barbaros!" (3000/1200)

Behind Yako, a panther-lion hybrid that resembled a centaur in form appeared. It's lower body was all black panther, but it's upper body was muscular humanoid lion, armed with a massive javelin and a rounded shield.

"Hold on!" protested Blaine. "You can't do that; Barbaros is an eight star monster!"

"Read the card, Blaine," said Yako quietly. "By lowering his attack points to 1900, Barbaros can be summoned without sacrifices!"

Barbaros growled as its strength shrank.

Yako slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards facedown. That ends my turn."

"About time!" snarled Blaine. He drew, and chuckled. "Here comes another shrimp! I summon Solar Flare Dragon!" he yelled. Another flaming wyrm materialized in front of him, its eyes glowing red as it increased to 2000 attack points. Blaine laughed. "Now, here's the kicker seasoning! Even if you could stand up to my dragons, you can't attack them as long as I have them both out! Each is the only pyro type that can be attacked, and each is a pyro type!" He pointed at Barbaros. "Solar Flare Dragon! Barbecue that pitiful Beast King Barbaros!" he yelled. The flaming dragon released a blast of magma that scorched Barbaros, and the monster bellowed as it was destroyed.

Yako stood there calmly as his life points decreased to 1400.

Blaine smiled. "You're wide open, Yako! Solar Flare Dragon, attack Yako, and end this duel!"

Yako touched a button on his disk. "Go, Level Resistance!" he yelled, and a facedown card flipped up. "This trap summons at least two monsters from my deck, but their levels must be half those of Barbaros's level!" He selected three monsters. "I summon Seraphim Gardna!" he called, and an angelic guardian in white and blue armour holding a shield appeared in a kneeling position. (1000/2000) "I summon Angel O1!" he added, and a little hooded angel appeared. (200/300) "And finally, I summon Tellus the Little Angel!" (500/500) and a little spherical angel appeared.

Blaine cursed. "Solar Flare Dragon attack Tellus!" he yelled.

"No, you idiot!" yelled the blonde boy from their hiding place. "Anything but Tellus!"

Yako shrugged as the flames of Solar Flare Dragon destroyed Tellus. "When Tellus is destroyed, I get a Tellus Wing Token," he said, and a little wing appeared on the field.

Blaine cursed. "Fine!" he said. "I end my turn, and turn up the heat!" he laughed. "Both Solar Flare Dragons roast you!" The two flaming dragons blasted Yako with fire, and his life points hit 400.

"My turn," said Yako, drawing. "I activate Monster Reincarnation," he said. "By discarding my Summoner Monk, I return Beast King Barbaros to my hand."

"Bring him out!" called Blaine. "He doesn't scare me!"

"I sacrifice three monsters to summon Beast King Barbaros!" called Yako.

The massive panther-lion hybrid rose out of the ground in a blaze of light.

"When Barbaros is summoned with three sacrifices, his special ability activates, destroying all the cards on your field!" called Yako.

Blaine laughed as the two Solar Flare Dragons shattered upon being struck by a tornado. But the Seal remained untouched. "Did you think that the Seal could be destroyed by a measly monster like that?" he laughed. "As long as I have the power of the Orichalcos, I'm invincible!" he screamed.

Yako looked at him. "You're insane," he said. "Beast King Barbaros, attack!" he yelled. "Tornado Shaper!" Barbaros raised its massive lance and threw it towards Blaine.

Blaine stopped laughing. "Wait!" he screamed. The lance smashed into Blaine, dropping his life points to zero. Blaine dropped to his knees in horror. "No! The Seal of Orichalcos cannot be defeated!" he screamed as the Seal closed around him. A vortex of green light cut off his screams and dropped him to the ground.

Yako sighed as the holograms faded. He walked over to the fallen form of Blaine, when a blue-white robed figure cut in front of him, and snatched up a green stone and the Seal of Orichalcos card.

"Stop!" yelled Yako in surprise, but the figure had leaped off the building into a nearby helicopter, which wheeled away erratically.

"Yako!" yelled Gekko, rushing out of the lift. "It's terrible, terrible news!"

"What news?" asked Yako. "What's happened now?"

"It's Master Pegasus," panted Gekko. "Master Pegasus has been attacked again!"

The blue-white robed teen shouldered the girl away from the helicopter controls. "I'll take those, and remind you that, next time, you actually _learn_ to fly a blasted helicopter."

The girl decided to go for the sympathy angle, and pouted. "Aww, but it was so much fun!" she said.

The teen sweatdropped at that and sighed. "Look, let's get back to base and see if that sister of yours is alright," he muttered. "Tenma may have won, but I don't see much of a threat with him. I'm sure Master Dartz won't mind."

**Okay, so that was longer than normal. But I've got no idea when the next chapter will be up, so bear with me.**

**Quinn Blaine's method of speaking was based on the dub character Toban-Jan from Duel Masters. That has always stuck with me, despite what it is.**

**Now what shall Yako do now?**

**Rate and review!**


	2. Desperate Struggle

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos.**

**Wow. People are actually quite interested in this. Okay, here you go then, no real complete duels in this chapter, but what the hell. Yes, I ripped of the Duel Puzzle – but that's just how good it is. If you every used it today, hardly anyone would know how to solve it.**

**Kicking Cherries: Okay, here it is. Sorry, no real Yako action in this chapter.**

**Cosmic Kiss: Yeah, Yako is amazing. That's the impression that everyone who duels him will get, hint hint. Sorry, but her name will not yet be spoken. Not yet. If she seems Ooc, I blame it on the Seal! Nah, you can blame it on me.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: Your Kallie has to get past my Sanokal first. Which is easier said than done. Heheheh.**

Yako Tenma was sitting in front of a large computer screen in the control room of the Asian Industrial Illusions building. He was still in his sleep clothes, but he'd thrown on a dressing gown. Gekko, similarly attired, was standing behind Yako, and Richie Merced was rubbing his eyes. Depre Scott was looking at a map of the globe on the wall, as if he could zoom in on the exact point that the American Industrial Illusions building was located on.

"If we can pass this one, we'll be in the security records," said Yako, tapping a few keys. "Then we can figure out what's happened to Master Pegasus."

On the computer screen after going through a slight digital maze, a door opened revealing Duel Monsters Cards on a duel field.

"What is this?" asked Willa Mette, who had just come in, yawning.

"It's a simulation duel," muttered Gekko. "Master Pegasus must have set up this simulation duel as the password."

"So this means we can't proceed any farther unless they solve it," muttered Richie.

"Seems so, and we only have 4 minutes remaining," said Gekko.

"Look," said Yako. "The opponents life points are at 2300, while our own life points are at 1000, and the opponent has 5 monsters Red Gadget, Green Gadget, Yellow Gadget, Ancient Gear Soldier and Stronghold the Moving Fortress, a set card, and a continuous spell card, "The Dark Door. Red Gadget and Yellow Gadget are in defense mode, while Green Gadget, Stronghold the Moving Fortress and Ancient Gear Soldier are in attack mode. On our field, we have Tragoedia who gains 600 ATK for each card in your hand, so it currently has 3600 because there are 6 cards in our hand."

"Win in this turn," muttered Willa, staring at the screen.

"If it's like this, then that set card that's on the opponent's field is going to be quite troublesome," observed Gekko.

"In any case, we just have to make the opponent's Life Points go to 0 this turn," said Depre.

Down below, Deschutes Lew was sitting in the lobby, drinking a cup of coffee. His hair was even more rumpled than usual, but he kept his eyes on the lobby door. Klamath Osler stood by the elevator, ready to spring into action.

Then, four shadows appeared at the door.

Deschutes leapt to his feet. "Go get the other three," he said to Klamath.

The little card professor nodded, and ran up to the first floor.

The door opened, despite being sealed tightly shut, and the four stepped inside. All of them carried flat blue disk-like objects.

"Oi!" yelled Deschutes. "This here is private property, and we don't take guests in the dead of night! So run along!"

"Run along he says," laughed a big blond in blue and white robes. "Do I look like a runner?"

"That was actually quite good," muttered a blond haired girl in black leather and white. "Just don't open your mouth again."

"Yes, do keep your trap shut Vince," said the tallest, another blonde, though he was hooded in robes of the same hue as Vince's, and Deschutes couldn't see his face. The last figure, a dark-headed teen also in blue and white, chuckled.

"I suppose that I wasn't quite clear enough," said Deschutes, as Klamath returned with Pete Coppermine, Mendo Cino, and Ted Banias. "Get out, or we throw you out."

The tall teen laughed. "If you can stand up to us in a duel, then of course we'll leave," he said. "I'll take the dude in the turban and the skinny guy."

"Watch who you insult," advised Pete, shifting his disk to dueling mode.

Willa walked over to the computer Yako was sitting before, and sat down beside him. "Let me take a crack at this," he said. He studied their hand. "The answer is simple," he said. "We've got Shooting Star Bow – Ceal, so we can take down that little Gadget monster right now." He then proceeded equip the equip spell to Green Gadget, lowering its ATK from 1400 to 400, while Tragoedia's ATK went from 3600 to 3000. "Now Tragoedia attacks Green Gadget!" called Willa, entering the command.

But the computer activated the face-down trap card - Mirror Force, which destroyed Tragoedia. Willa yelped, and pushed away from the computer. "Uh-oh," he said.

"Through the effects of The Dark Door, both players can only attack once, so this won't do us any good," said Depre.

Willa glared at him. "Could you be a little more supportive?" he asked.

Richie grabbed Willa. "You're wasting our precious time!" he yelled.

"Calm down, now we've learned something - that face-down card is Mirror Force," said Gekko.

Pete screamed as a massive creature of light disintegrated his Lycanthrope and Cino's Dreadscythe Harvester.

The blond teen grinned. "Tualatin, attack directly!" he yelled, and the angelic behemoth blasted Pete with a beam of light and dropped his life points to zero.

Cino looked in shock as a large column of green light enclosed Pete and a rushing sound echoed through the air. Then, the thin man limply collapsed.

"You're next," said the blond teen.

"Let's go," said Richie. "Equipping an equip spell to an opponent's monster to lower their attack points is something you do when you're out of tricks! A duel is power! Trusting in your own power is a duel!"

Willa snorted. "Isn't that something that _you _would do?"

Richie equipped the equip Spell Axe of Despair to Tragoedia; bringing Its ATK to 4000. "Attack Green Gadget," he called, but the computer once again activated Mirror Force, destroying the monster.

"You idiot, Gekko said it was "Mirror Force!" yelled Willa.

"I was just checking to see if that set card would change," snapped Richie.

"We don't have time for that," snapped Willa back.

To which Richie retorted "I didn't ask you."

"Go, Assault Lion!" yelled Ted Banias, and the massive humanoid lion (2600/2500) smashed its fist down on Vince, sending him flying. Vince struggled up as his life points hit 800.

"You've done nothing but summon weak monsters this entire duel!" laughed Banias, his own life points at 2800. "You're mine!"

"You're done," said Vince, drawing. "I remove two light, and two dark monsters from the graveyard to summon two Chaos Sorcerer's!" he yelled. Two blue-skinned mainly bare-chested sorcerers in dark attire appeared. (2300/2000)

Banias screamed as they increased to 2800 points each.

"Chaos Sorcerer's, attack, and finish this weakling off!" yelled Vince, laughing as the Seal of Orichalcos glowed in his head. The two mages brought a fist of light and dark energy together and blasted Banias and Assault Lion. Both screamed in pain, Assault Lion shattering, and Banias collapsing as the Seal closed around him.

"Ahem. We only have 2 minutes left, and that this is our last chance," said Gekko.

"I'll do it," said Yako. "Look, just because I don't have the Wicked God cards, it doesn't mean that I can't apply the facts here." He looked at the screen once again. "The first problem is that Mirror Force Trap card, we must not let that card activate. The one thing that can seal off Mirror Force is Ancient Gear Soldier, which has the power to stop Traps from activating when it battles."

"Ancient Gear Soldier is on the opponent's side of the field," muttered Richie.

"This is where "Tragoedia's" effect comes into play," explained Yako. "By discarding a card from your hand, once per turn you gain control of an opponent's monster that has the same star level as the discarded card. Ancient Gear Soldier is a four star, and the only monster in my hand is the level 6 Alector, Sovereign of Birds. But I've got the spell Cost Down in my hand, which can reduce all monsters level in by hand by two, if I discard a card first." He paused to catch his breath, and continued. "I now activate Cost Down and discard the Remove Trap Spell card from my hand, and change Alector, Sovereign of Birds from level six to four. Through Tragoedia's effect, by discarding Alector, Sovereign of Birds, I take control of Ancient Gear Soldier. Now, as for dealing all the damage, there is one thing that stands out, which is Stronghold the Moving Fortress's effect. Though says its points are 3000, its ATK will only be 3000 when Green Gadget, Yellow Gadget and Red Gadget are on the field, and if those 3 aren't there, then its ATK is 0. So I now discard Shooting Star Bow - Ceal to activate Tribute to The Doomed, and destroy Green Gadget. Stronghold the Moving Fortress's ATK now goes from 3000 to 0. Now when I equip Axe of Despair to Ancient Gear Soldier, its attack points go from 1300 to 2300." Yako stopped and sucked in a large breath. "Ancient Gear Soldier, attack Stronghold the Moving Fortress!"

The computers points dropped to 0.

Willa and Richie sweated. "Okay," said Richie. "Master Pegasus really doesn't want people in his system."

"And we need something like that for our door locks!" said Depre. "Take a look at the screen!" he said, thumbing urgently toward it.

Richie, Gekko, Willa and Yako turned, and gasped in shock at the sight of the motionless bodies of Pete, Cino, and Banias. They saw a mighty mechanical dragon bear down on Deschutes, reducing his life points to zero, and the green vortex of the Orichalcos encircling him.

"It's them," whispered Yako. "They must have been with the people that attacked Master Pegasus."

"Then let's get them!" yelled Richie, running out of the room to get his duel disk. Depre and Willa followed, Willa rolling his eyes.

Gekko was about to leave when Yako grabbed his arm.

"Get Keith," said Yako. "Then, come and view the footage with me."

Gekko nodded. "Just don't do what you did last time."

Yako was a bit hurt, but he knew there was cause for concern. He didn't retort, however, and simply watched Gekko leave.

Klamath looked at his opponent. He'd only just begun his duel, forced to watch as the girl's companions took down each of his fellow card professors. "What in blazes do you want!" yelled the diminutive card professor.

"I want your soul, and that of your employer," said the girl without batting an eye.

Klamath grinned. "Well I'm feeling lucky, so here goes!" he called, drawing. "All right, I'll begin with my Dark Antlion!" he called. Nothing happened. (1500/1000)

"What? Is your disk broken?" asked the girl.

"Nothing's wrong with my disk. So come on," said Klamath, grinning as he set a card facedown. _With Dark Antlion reducing her monsters attack points by 500 when they battle them, and my Rush Recklessly spell out, I'm good to go!_, he thought.

The girl frowned. "Fine, I draw." She smiled. "Now I summon my Cyber Tutu!" she said, and a ballerina with shoulder length pink hair and a red and white jumpsuit appeared in front of her (1000/1000) "When your monsters have more attack points than Tutu, she attacks you directly, with her Pounding Pirouette!" she called, and the ballerina kicked Klamath in the stomach.

He grimaced as his life points decreased to 3000.

"Next I'll play this," said the girl. "The Seal of Orichalcos!"

Klamath gasped as the same barrier that had spelled doom for all his fellow card professors enclosed them. He tried to run, but slammed straight into a solid wall. "What is this?" he protested.

"It's very simple, only one of us can escape the Seal of Orichalcos by winning this duel. The loser will be trapped forever and shall lose their soul!" she explained and her eyes glowed red, while the Seal glowed in her forehead. The same happened to Cyber Tutu.

"You can't do this!" yelled Klamath.

"Oh shut up you midget! I'm playing two cards facedown and ending my turn," said the girl irritably.

Klamath drew nervously. Then he smiled in relief. "I play Axe of Despair!" he said, and suddenly, a large antlion emerged from a pit in the ground, and grabbed the axe, its attack points rising to 2500. "Then I'll boost it up with my Rush Recklessly!" he added, and the Dark Antlion increased in size even more to 3200 attack points. "Next I summon my Chainsaw Insect!" he said, and an insect with massive bladed mandibles appeared. (2400/0) "Now attack, Dark Antlion!" he called, and the Antlion charged.

"Predictable," muttered the girl. "I activate Doble Passé, which turns your attack into a direct attack, then allows my Tutu to attack you directly! I'll also use Wabuku to reduce all damage I take to zero for this turn!" The massive axe knocked backwards, but the Cyber Tutu jump kicked Klamath again, knocking him down to 1500 life points.

Klamath groaned, and quickly set his Magic Cylinder face down.

The girl drew and laughed. "Not even worth the time," she said. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" she called, and the blast of wind destroyed Klamath's Magic Cylinder. "Now, Cyber Tutu, attack directly!" she called, and the ballerina spun into Klamath, and knocked him over, reducing his life points to zero.

He screamed as the vortex closed around him, and sucked out his soul.

"And this floor is all wrapped up," said the leader of the group. "You've got some serious skills," he said to the girl.

She shrugged. "Thanks, but stop with the compliments. I'm only taking them from a select few, and you aren't on my list. Now let's clean up this building. The twins are mine."

As she walked off Vince sniggered. "Are we going to listen to her?"

"No, but you are going to listen to me," said the blond teen. "Don't even think about taking on the Tenma brothers. They're too strong for you."

They walked after the girl, ready for any challenges they might encounter.

**Too . . . drained to say anything. NO idea when my next update will be. **

**Please review!**


	3. March of the Dreadnoughts

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Orichalcos**

**Gooooood morning fanfiction! Hey, this is not a test; this is Yu-Gi-Oh! I wasn't going to update this early, but the duel just turned out so nicely that I thought, ah what the hell, and so, here we are. Duelling-wise, I'm proud of the duel, even if it's just filler. Event-wise, it has some significance. I'm actually quite overwhelmed at the praise this has been getting, and now I'm getting worried! Worried that I might not cater, and all that. **

**By the way, has anyone spotted the name trend? (For the chapters).**

**Cosmic Kiss: Of course she's doomed, but she'll easily put up one hell of a fight. Or is she? Heh-Heh-Heh. Out of curiosity, how do you write your duels? Thanks for the praise.**

**Kicking Cherries: Never thought about the Lenny connection (although I should have seen it coming with Retribution of the Antlion.) As for the Cyber Girl deck, it's pretty much all on Cozzy, as the mysterious girl is her OC, and this is her deck in Cozzy's stories. I think this counts as soonies.**

**K5Rakitan: Unique duel? I had it in mind with the first Orichalcos duel in Waking the Dragons. As for the card professors, they're the main duel fodder in R, (which I've also done an anime Romanization of.) Thanks for calling my work awesome.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: I won't argue, but the irony is, that (spoiler-ish) in his first future appearance, Sanokal would be demolishing an entire school of these psychics. Coincidental, I swear! And thank you.**

_March of the Dreadnoughts_

"Split up," said the blond teen as they entered the first floor. There was one large door at the end of the room, and a few side doors at the fringes of the room, all helpfully marked with signs. "I'll take Vince and head through the side way."

"Guess that leaves me with Mr. Personality over here, then?" asked the girl irritably, thumbing towards Dirk, a dark haired young man robed in the same fashion as the blond teen and Vince.

"Watch your mouth," said Dirk. He walked toward the main door to the second floor. "Don't take the elevators. Tenma's good with computers, he'll have shut them down."

The blond teen and Vince disappeared through the side door leading to the fifth floor.

Dirk led the way through the next door, and they ran up the stairs. The second floor was far more expansive, and split into rooms, all connected by one long corridor. At the end of the corridor was the door to the next floor.

There was also a broad man in dark green army fatigues, tapping his crossed arms impatiently.

Dirk frowned. "Now this won't do at all," he said.

"You got that right," said the man, shifting his disk to duelling mode. "This ends here."

Dirk activated his own disk. "Fine. This will be a battle of the ultimate machines." He looked at the girl standing beside him. "Get past him," he muttered.

The girl nodded confidently, and sidled past the broad man.

The man just chuckled. "Divide and conquer," he remarked. "Sound tactics for dealing with me, but when it comes to this entire building, this really isn't your best idea."

Dirk snorted. "We have the power of the Orichalcos! We can't be defeated!"

"Impress me," said the man, drawing his five card hand.

Yako sat at the computer, his hand hovering over the play button for the footage. Where in the world was Gekko? He wasn't playing the footage without him.

Then, the door opened, Yako whirled to face the intruder, but it was just Gekko and Keith Howard standing in the door. Yako sighed in relief. "There you two are."

"Alright, what is this attack on Pegasus here?" muttered Keith, rubbing the flag tied over his skull. "C'mon, there's gotta be a good reason for waking me up like this."

Yako shot a glance at Gekko, who just shrugged.

"It's the footage from when Master Pegasus was attacked a few hours ago," explained Yako. He hit the play button.

On screen, Pegasus sat at his desk.

"I can't believe the monsters I made famous are now terrorizing people around the world," he said to himself.

"Do you always talk to yourself like that?" said a woman's voice from the window.

He turned to see a blond woman, wearing a sleeveless light purple vest and a white tank top, long purple fingerless gloves, and dark purple shorts standing there.

"How did you get past my security?" asked Pegasus. Then, the footage cut out. But just before the signal faded completely, they heard Pegasus cry "No!"

Yako hit the stop button, sweating furiously.

Gekko looked at his brother in concern. "Yako!" he cried. "Yako, calm down!"

"I had a nightmare," whispered Yako. "A nightmare where that same woman used that Orichalcos card to take Master Pegasus' soul."

"What, you mean Mai Valentine?" asked Keith.

The Tenma twins turned to him in shock. "You know her?" they asked in unison.

Keith nodded. "Yeah, met her in the Duelist Kingdom finals. Didn't duel her, but she's handy with her deck. And with the Orichalcos, well, game over."

"Hang on a second," said Gekko, pulling up footage of the intruders from a few minutes ago. "Look at the girl," he said, thumbing towards the image of the girl that had taken Klamath Osler's soul.

Yako squinted and gasped. "She looks like this Mai Valentine girl!"

"Probably related," said Keith, leaning towards the screen. "So, you've called us up to go and look for this girl?"

"No," said Yako. "I don't know what to do."

Kirk Dixon eyed Dirk warily as the intruder shuffled his deck and activated his disk, deploying its scythe-like card zone.

"Let's duel," said Dirk.

"My pleasure," said Kirk, drawing calmly. "I summon Machina Soldier to the field," he said, and a green, soldier-like robot with a sword for its right hand materialised in front of him. (1600/1500) "Of course, a good soldier never goes in alone," he said. "So when he's deployed on his own, Machina Soldier brings out another Machina-class monster to assist him. So I summon Machina Sniper!" said Kirk, sliding the card onto his disk, and a long-limbed tan-coloured robot clutching a laser rifle appeared beside Machina Soldier. (1800/800) "Then, I'll fortify my defences with a facedown card, and turn the passage of battle over to you," finished Kirk.

"Whatever," remarked Dirk rudely, drawing. "I summon Green Gadget in attack mode!" he said, and a silver gear surrounded by green limbs and armour appeared. (1400/600) "This allows me to add a Red Gadget from my deck to my hand," added Dirk. "Then I'll lay down two facedown cards, and end my turn."

"What useless fortifications!" said Kirk, drawing. "I play this monster on the defensive. Now, Machina Sniper, snipe that Green Gadget!" he called. The tan robot fired a burst of energy, but Dirk quickly hit a button on his disk. "I play a trap! Go, Negate Attack!" he called, and the whirlwind stopped the blast and dissipated it.

Kirk growled. "You're up," he muttered.

"And you're going down," said Dirk, drawing. "First, I activate the trap card, Ultimate Offering! Now, at a cost of 500 points, we can summon extra monsters. So first I'll summon Red Gadget, and add Yellow Gadget to my hand," he said. Another silver gear attached to the back of a red robot appeared. (1300/1500) "Then I pay 500 life points to summon Yellow Gadget, and thus add Green Gadget from my deck to my hand," he added, and a yellow robot with half a gear on each side of it appeared, while his life points decreased to 3500. (1200/1200) "Then, I'll do the same for my Boot-Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo," he said, and a colossal brown robot with space for a gear in its chest appeared. (0/2000) "And, if there's a Gadget in play, Dynamo gains 2000 attack points!" added Dirk. Red Gadget leaped into the slot on Dynamo's chest, and the colossal robot glowed as its strength rose, while Dirk glowed red as his life points decreased to 3000. "Finally, I'll restore my life points with Dian Keto the Cure Master!" he said, and he glowed as his life points went back to 4000. "Then, I play the most powerful card in existence!" he sneered.

Kirk snorted, but the Dirk inserted the card into his disk, and the massive Seal expanded around the two duelists.

Vince was bored. He hadn't seen _anyone_ through this trip, no one to duel, and no-one to steal a soul from. Their leader didn't seem too bothered, but Vince needed someone to pulverize, or he was going to scream. Then, their leader's phone rang.

"What is it?" asked the blond young man.

"Just thought I'd let you know that I've left Dirk duelling that army nuttter of a card professor," said their ally's voice on the other side of the phone. She sounded like she was happy to have left him there.

The blond teen frowned. "Vince, change of plans. Go back up Dirk."

Vince grinned. "All right, thanks Masumi!" he said, and he thundered out of the stairwell, causing Masumi to wince at his colleague's stupidity.

Kirk looked in surprise at the Seal of Orichalcos, and examined Dirk's field. Dirk and his monsters had glowing red eyes now, and the Seal glowing in their foreheads.

Dirk lifted his head. "Now that is power," he grinned.

"You've gone insane!" growled Kirk. "Isn't that the card that you varmits used to take out Klamath and the others?"

"Why yes, I think it is," said Dirk. "It was all over so quickly though."

Kirk growled. "Bring it on, then," he said.

"Fine," replied Dirk. "This Seal boosts the attack points of all my monsters by 500 points!" he said. "Now, Green Gadget (1400-1900) will attack that Soldier!" he called. Green Gadget charged, but Machina Sniper leapt in the way of the attack, and shattered at the Gadget's punch.

Kirk groaned as his life points decreased to 3900. "Machina Sniper is the only Machina monster that you are allowed to attack," said Kirk.

"Then it's a good thing that there's plenty more where that came from," said Dirk. "Red Gadget (1300-1800) will now attack the facedown monster!" Red Gadget threw a punch, only to meet the armour of a blue, tank like machine. (1200/1800)

"Too bad that my Machina Defender not only survives your attack, but also adds Commander Covington from my deck to my hand," remarked Kirk, adding the card to his hand.

Dirk scowled. "Dread Dynamo (2000-2500), attack Machina Soldier!" he snarled. The brown robot lunged, and Kirk acted quickly.

"Go, Yellow Alert!" he called. "This trap summons a monster from my hand in defence mode to shield me. So I bring out my Machina Fortress!" he called, slapping the card into his disk.

A massive tank appeared, blue armoured, with giant treads, and a powerful cannon. Arm-like appendages extended from its sides. (2500/1600) Dread Dynamo slammed into the monster, shattering it.

Kirk grinned. "When Machina Fortress takes one for the team, he takes an opposing monster with him," he said. "Aim and fire! Your target is Yellow Gadget!" A blast fired from Kirk's graveyard, and shattered Yellow Gadget.

Dirk cursed. "I set one card and end my turn."

Kirk drew. "First, I play Monster Reborn to bring back Machina Sniper," he said, and the tan robot reappeared on the field. "Then, I summon Commander Covington in defence mode." (1000/600) A scarlet-clad commander appeared, crouching. "Finally, I discard Machina Cannon to revive Machina Fortress, as its total star level is eight or higher." The giant tank appeared on the field. "Now, with the effect of Commander Covington, my Machina unite into the ultimate Machina Force!" said Kirk, slamming a card into his disk.

Covington raised his hand, and the three Machina split into pieces, the head of Soldier replacing that of Sniper, which slid down to the navel of its own torso, the cannons of Defender attaching to the shoulders to the torso, and the feet to those of Soldier, and the three torsos of the Machina linking up into a centuarian form. (4600/4100)

"4600 attack points?" yelped Dirk.

"Now, I pay 1000 life points to attack with Machina Force!" said Kirk, laughing as his life points dropped to 2900. The massive Machina blasted three streams of power from its lasers, and shattered Red Gadget.

Dirk screamed as the attack threw him into the Seal, and dropped him to 1100 life points.

Kirk was taken aback. _What was that? What's going on here?_, thought the military duelist. "Now, Machina Fortress, attack Green Gadget!" he called, and the tank blasted Green Gadget to shreds.

Dirk cried out in pain again as his life points dropped to 500.

"Pathetic!" snorted Kirk. "You like to dish out the pain, but you can't take it when someone fights back! You good for nothing hack!" he yelled. "Leave this building and never return!" He slid a card into his disk. "I play one card facedown and end my turn," he said, setting Sareketsu Armour.

Dirk drew. "Now you've done it old man. You're going down."

"Talk is cheap," snorted Kirk. "That Seal has puffed up your ego, Store-Breaker," he said.

Dirk blanched. "How did you know that?"

Kirk just sniggered.

Dirk's face hardened. "In that case, I'll just ask your soul!" he snarled. "I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Green Gadget!" The green robot/gear hybrid appeared, and the Seal boosted its strength. "Now, I sacrifice Green Gadget and Dread Dynamo to summon my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" he yelled. The two monster vanished, and a massive dragon made of old metal appeared, limbless, with thick gears for legs. Its eyes glowed as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on its forehead. (3000-3500/2000) "Not only are you prevented from using spell and traps cards when he attacks, but since I sacrificed Green Gadget to summon him, when he attacks a defending monster, he deals the lower difference as damage to you!"

Kirk gasped. "What?" he cried in shock.

"Gadjiltron Dragon!" snarled Dirk. "Attack Commander Covington! Mechanized Force!" The massive dragon fired a blast of flame at Covington, and shredded to commander.

Kirk screamed as his life points hit zero, and the Seal closed around him.

The girl rounded the corner, only to be faced with two other girls. One was wearing a school girl type outfit, bespectacled and trembling, the other dressed in black leather and skirts. She even carried a black duel disk.

"Now then," said Tilla Mook. "You're not getting any further, you hear me?" she said. "But first things first, our boss needs to confirm something – what's your name?"

The girl looked Tilla in the eye. "My name is Hazel Valentine."

**Gulp. I hope the last bit is alright, I really do. I don't know for sure when the next chapter will be up, the computer is being occupied. So hang on to your britches.**

**Please rate and review!**


	4. Nascent Requiem

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Orichalcos**

**Earlier, I was looking for images for Yako and Gekko, and it's pretty damn hard to find them. Hell, I can find better quality versions of their outfits more easily than of them. It's getting annoying, as I was seriously thinking about making a cover page for this fic. Do I have to manipulate Pokémon sprites or something?! (Actually, no, I really don't have the patience for that. Ah well.)**

**And they've made the surprising decision to make the Seal of Orichalcos seal off the Extra deck. And destroy all Special Summoned monsters the player controlled when it was played. Well, howdy-ho. Robots! You know what that means? I can be as hardcore as I like and it'll still be PG-13 – wait, what?**

**This chapter is likely to be very . . . messy. There's no other way to say it.**

**Thanks as well, those who reviewed, it means a lot to me.**

_Nascent Requiem_

Dirk rounded the corner, and walked smack into Vince's large frame, stumbling, and falling to the ground. Vince chuckled. "Oops," he said.

Dirk growled. "Watch where you're going, you buffoon!" he snapped.

Vince snorted. "You're as much at fault as me, you little twig," he retorted.

"As entertaining as this is, would you decide whether or not you're actually going to pass or not?" asked a voice.

The two former Store-Breakers looked down the hall to see a relatively ordinary man with straw coloured hair.

"Let's both get him," said Dirk as he shifted his disk to duelling mode.

Masumi Momono sighed as the soulless body of Depre Scott collapsed to the ground.

It had really been too easy. Depre's strategy had relied on his field spell, Cosmic Space, but with the Seal of Orichalcos out, he'd been unable to use it. Unable to continue his usual strategies, he'd quickly succumbed to Masumi's deck, and fallen with minutes.

He pulled out his phone and called Hazel, but she didn't pick up. Masumi shrugged, she must be duelling.

Not that she had much to worry about, what with half of the card professors down and gone already.

Ignoring Depre's comatose body, he walked up the stairs that the card professor had been guarding, only to find a lift. He cursed; Depre had tricked him into wasting his time. Dirk had warned them not to take the lifts, but at this stage, Masumi was beyond reason, and opened the lift doors. The lift arrived instantly, and he stepped inside and pressed the button for the top floor. The doors closed, and the lift began to rise.

Yako Tenma was his.

Yako walked down the corridor, keeping an eye out for anyone following him. Keith had gone to dress properly and sort out his deck, and Gekko was heading for the group of duelists travelling together.

His phone beeped, and he slid it out. "Yes?" he asked.

"_We talked to her. She's called Hazel Valentine,"_ said the voice of Tilla Mook over the line.

"Are you two alright?" asked Yako in concern.

"_Don't worry, we'll be fine," _replied Tilla. Then, before Yako could ask again, she hung up.

He continued down the corridor, thinking to himself. He really didn't have any idea what he was doing, the duelists seemed unstoppable. Of course, so had Yugi Muto and none of them were Yugi. Although, Yugi with the power of the Orichalcos . . . he shuddered. It was best not to dwell on such a situation.

Not only that, he didn't know how he felt about the incident. However, he figured that his lack of angst this time around meant he was taking it a lot better . . . than last time.

Then he slammed his fist into the wall. "Master Pegasus!" he sobbed, falling to his knees.

Cedar Mill surveyed the two standing before him. They both had their disks out, and it looked like they intended to duel him at the same time.

He drew his hand. "I think I'll let the beanpole go first, and take the turn after that," he said.

Dirk drew. "I summon Green Gadget," he said. (1400/600) The green robot attached to a gear appeared. "This allows me to add Red Gadget from my deck to my hand. Then I play one card facedown and end my turn," he said, sliding a card into his disk.

Cedar drew. "I summon Gimmick Puppet Egg Head!" he said, and the smiling orange egg appeared. (1600/1200) "Now, I activate his effect, discarding a card to slam you with 800 points of damage!" The egg blasted Dirk with a blast of flame, knocking him backwards and dropping his life points to 3200. "I now activate Double Summon, and summon Gimmick Puppet Scarecrow!" he said, and a mechanical scarecrow with a gin-trap for a mouth appeared. (800/2000) "Then I'll set down two facedown cards," said Cedar. "That's my turn done."

"Finally," said Vince. "I draw!" he said, as he swiped the top card of his deck. "I activate the Cheerful Coffin, and I discard three cards,' he said. "Then, I play Foolish Burial, and send a card from my deck to my graveyard." He discarded Sangan, Mystic Tomato and Shining Angel, and sent D.D. Warrior Lady from his deck to the graveyard. "I now remove a light and a dark monster to summon my Chaos Sorcerer!" he said with a grin. The blue-skinned sorcerer appeared. (2300/2000) "I attack Gimmick Puppet Egg Head!" called Vince, and Chaos Sorcerer blasted twin streams of energy – one light and one dark. But then they twisted away from Egg Head, and slammed into Scarecrow.

Cedar laughed. "You big oaf. When Gimmick Puppet Scarecrow is on the field, he's the only monster that you're allowed to attack!"

Vince growled. "I end my turn," he muttered.

Dirk drew. "I activate Ultimate Offering, allowing us to pay 500 life points to summon extra monsters," he said. "I summon Red Gadget allowing me to add Yellow Gadget to my hand," he said. He searched his deck as the red robot attached to a gear appeared. (1300/1500) "Then I pay 500 life points to summon Yellow Gadget and thus add Green Gadget to my hand," he added, again searching his deck as the yellow robot attached to twin gear halves appeared. (1200/1200) "I pay another 500 to summon Green Gadget and add Red Gadget to my hand." Another Green Gadget appeared as Dirk searched his deck. "Finally, at the cost of another 500 life points, I summon Red Gadget, and use its effect to add Yellow Gadget to my hand." A second Red Gadget appeared. Dirk was now down to 1700 life points.

Cedar was getting worried. _This can't be good._

"I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" yelled Dirk, sliding the card into his field spell zone. The Seal expanded out from his disk, and appeared in the foreheads of himself and his monsters, boosting them all by 500 points.

Cedar screamed in shock. "Nooo!" he shrieked in terror. He hadn't been this terrified since being attack by Slifer the Sky Dragon.

"Now I also play Heavy Storm!" called Dirk, and a tornado shattered Cedar's Negate Attack and Shadow Spell. "Go, Green Gadget, take out his Gimmick Puppet!" called Dirk, and Cedar groaned as the green robot shattered the orange egg, dropping him to 3700 life points. "Now, all my Gadgets attack and bring me his soul!" yelled Dirk. The four Gadget swarmed Cedar, pummelling him until his life points fell to zero.

"Cedar!" yelled Gekko, rounding the corner.

Cedar grinned. "Well, this sucks, doesn't it?" he remarked, and screamed as the Seal took his soul, contracting around him.

Gekko clenched his fists. "On what grounds do you claim his soul?" he asked quietly. "On what!?" he yelled.

Vince grinned. "Cause we can," he said with a big grin.

Gekko's eyes promptly shot towards Vince. He activated his duel disk. "You're first," he said evenly.

Vince shuffled his deck, and slid it into his disk. "Let's duel!" he said with a grin. "I'm going first." He drew, and chuckled. "I summon Sangan in defence mode!" he called. (1000/600) The brown furred three eyed fiend with green limbs appeared, burled up. "I'm done."

"My turn," said Gekko. "I summon Learning Elf in defence mode," he said. A bespectacled elf maiden holding a tome appeared. (1400/1500) "Then I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"This'll be cake!" laughed Vince. "Where's that Perfect Duelist that's supposed to be in this building?" he taunted. "I play Stop Defence to force your elf into attack mode!" he grinned. "Then, I switch my Sangan into attack mode, and activate Terraforming, to add the Seal of Orichalcos to my hand!" he said.

Gekko gritted his teeth. _So, the Seal shows itself,_ he thought as Vince slapped the card into his disk. The Seal expanded outward for the second time in the last ten minutes.

Vince laughed. "Now this is power," he said. "And I thought having all those card stores in our pockets was great! This is awesome."

Gekko gritted his teeth. "What kind of duelist are you?" he muttered.

Vince grinned again. "Sangan, attack his little elf!" he cried. The little fiend slashed through the elf maiden, shattering her and dropping Gekko down to 3900 life points.

Gekko cried out in pain. "What was that?" he asked weakly. "That was real damage!" He pushed himself back up. "Learning Elf's special ability allows me to draw another card," he said, drawing. "Now it's my turn," he said, drawing again. "And now I'll activate Jar of Greed to draw another card," he said, drawing a second time. He smiled. _That's better._ "I summon Thoroughbred Elf!" he called, and a muscular elf appeared on the field. (1800/1500) "I equip him with Spirit Slayer!" called Gekko, and a twin bladed sword appeared in the elf's hands. "Take out his Sangan!" called Gekko. "Spirit Slayer boosts his attack points by 500, and lowers those of your monster by 500."

"What?" asked Vince as the elf slashed through the panicked little Sangan, and dropped his life points to 2700. He groaned in pain as the backlash hit him. "Sangan allows me to add a monster with less than 1500 attack points from my deck to my hand," he said. "I choose my Shining Angel." He searched his deck, and added the card to his hand. He drew. "My turn," he added. "I summon the Shining Angel that I just added to my hand," he said. (1400/1100) A four winged angel appeared, the Seal glowing in its forehead, and increasing to 1900 attack points. "Then I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your pesky little Spirit Slayer," he said, and a whirlwind shattered the sword that Thoroughbred Elf clutched. "Shining Angel attacks!" called Vince, and the angel kicked the elf in the stomach, blasting it to pieces.

Gekko groaned as his life points dropped to 3800. "My turn," he groaned. "I play Monster Reborn to bring Learning Elf back in defence mode," he said. The elf maiden appeared, recoiling from the Seal and shielding her eyes with her book. "Then I summon Wonderbeat Elf," said Gekko, and an elf warrior with twin hand axes appeared, wearing oversized clothes. (1700/1600) "I equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler," he said, and Wonderbeat Elf increased to 2400 attack points. "Now, for every elf present, Wonderbeat Elf delivers an extra attack!" called Gekko. "Attack Shining Angel!" he called, and the elf cleaved through the angel, dropping Vince to 2200 life points and throwing him into the Seal.

Vince groaned. "When Shining Angel is destroyed, I can summon a light attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck in attack mode," he said.

Gekko frowned as another four winged angel appeared. "I attack that angel as well!" he said, and the elf again cleaved through the angel, dropping Vince down to 1700 life points. "You can't take this pain?" asked Gekko as Vince screamed. "You . . . vile person."

Vince growled. "Shut up! That's what that army dude said to Dirk, and look where it got him! Right Dirk?" he said, turning.

But Dirk was long gone.

"Dirk?" asked Vince nervously. "Dirk?!" he yelled. "Oh, whatever. I summon a third Shining Angel!" he called, and the third angel appeared. "Now I draw!" he said with a grin. "Oh yeah, I remove my dark attribute Sangan, and my light attribute Shining Angel from the game in order to summon my Chaos Sorcerer!" he called. Again, the blue-skinned sorcerer sprang into the game, the Seal glowing in his forehead and boosting him to 2800 attack points.

Gekko gritted his teeth. _Winning this duel might just have gotten a lot more difficult_, he thought as Vince laughed in the background.

Yako entered a pass code, and hurried into the meeting room of the building. It was a very ordinary meeting room, with comfy chairs, and a very business – like table.

What set it apart from normal meeting rooms was a sculpture of dark grey stone embedded in the wall, depicting three mighty creatures. Some wondered why Yako had ordered it constructed, especially as the images were not pleasing to look at.

They were a massive winged giant, with bone structures running along its forearms, pectorals, thighs, and wings, enclosing its fiendish face in a gaping ram skull. It boasted massive fists, though it stood in a pose with its arms crossed.

The second was a serpentine, draconic fiend, with stubby arms, no legs, and a massive beak atop a fiendish face, flanked by two horns, curling around a rock face.

The last was simply a smooth, featureless orb, set into the stone, around the size of the torso of the first.

Yako approached the stone, and ran his hands over the orb.

The he screamed as something entered his heart, and spoke to him.

**I'm so evil. And now I've realised that Gadget decks are going to love the Seal of Orichalcos. **

**With both of the Tenma twins in bad situations, how shall they escape their respective plights? Find out when I can be bothered to update. (Actually, when I **_**can **_**update. I'm back to uni soon, so I'll need to study more. But that's what Saturdays are for.)**

**Actually speaking of twins, apparently, Shark's sister is his younger twin now. I bet no-one saw that coming. Oh, the irony . . .**

**Please review!**


	5. Born Anew

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos. **

**Yes, I know that I haven't updated for a while. Well, I had three tests in my first two weeks back at university, so, forgive me if I actually got off my ass and studied. Sorry, that sounds like I'm being a defiant, sarcastic jerk. Which probably isn't too different from normal. Hmm. **

**On the plus side, it was my nineteenth birthday two days ago. Jeez, it's been that long already? It's crazy. **

**So, we have Yako madness, Gekko ownage, and Hazel stepping up for a serious duel. But the Orichalcos isn't the only power that we need to fear in this wee little building.**

**Yes, I've kinda stolen from Zexal 34 here.**

**I know that some people listen to songs while they write. I just happened to be listening to SOLDIER Battle while I finished this chapter off. Awesome track. **

**K5Rakitan: Shining Angel is part of a basic set of searchers. I actually don't know if it's ever been shiny. As for Chaos Sorcerer, I've got no idea when it'll be out next, seeing as it was recently released in the most stupid structure deck ever. When I say stupid, I mean it gave an easy way to make a **_**very overpowered **_**deck. Not even kidding, I've never beaten that deck at full strength, though it was hit in the right places, thank god.**

_Born Anew!_

Yako Tenma screamed as something entered his heart and spoke to him.

_Destroy them . . ., _whispered the voice that Yako had associated with that which had caused his growth and his anger.

"No!" said Yako through gritted teeth. "I won't succumb to you. Not again."

He screamed again as the voices presence twisted within his heart.

Gekko eyed the Chaos Sorcerer, the Seal of Orichalcos glowing on its head.

Behind it, the blond man mountain that was Vince laughed. "With Chaos Sorcerer out, you don't stand a chance of winning this duel!" he chortled. "Now I activate his special ability!" he added. "Once a turn, in exchange for not allowing him to attack, it removes one monster from the game! I choose that Wonderbeat Elf!"

Gekko gritted his teeth as Chaos Sorcerer called an orb of light and dark into each hand, and blasted Wonderbeat Elf, causing it to fade. "When Malevolent Muzzeler is destroyed, I can pay 500 life points to add it to my hand," he said, and he added the card to his hand as his life points decreased to 3300.

"Now, Shining Angel attacks your Learning Elf!" added Vince. The angel launched a kick that shattered the elf maiden.

Gekko drew. "When Learning Elf is destroyed, I draw another card," he said.

Vince snorted. "I play a card face down. Your move."

Gekko drew again. "I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guard," he said, and a green armoured elf swordsman in a blue cape appeared. (1400/1200) "Next, I'll equip it with Malevolent Nuzzler," he said, and Celtic Guards points increased to 2100. "Attack!" he called and the elf swordsman sliced through Shining Angel.

Vince groaned as his life points fell to 1500. "I use the effect of Shining Angel to summon D.D. Warrior Lady!" he called, and a woman in a grey bodysuit appeared. (1500/1600)

Gekko narrowed his eyes. "I play one card facedown, and end my turn," he said.

Vince moved to draw, but Gekko wasn't done talking.

"Now, you've invaded our building, stripped our employee's souls, and so far, you've been acting like a headless cult!" snapped Gekko. "Who are you people, and what are you doing?"

Vince grinned. "Me, Dirk and Masumi? We're the Store-Breakers!" he said.

"I thought Yugi Muto kicked you out of the business," observed Gekko drily. The strange thing was, even though the sarcasm was so obviously there, it wasn't.

Vince seethed. "Shut up!" he said waving his hand past his mike, and switching it on. "We've been hired by Paradius to take Yako Tenma's soul."

Gekko gasped. One, he'd heard of Paradius, and knew that they were extremely bad news. Two, this confirmed his suspicions' - Yako was the target. And three, Vince hadn't recognised him.

"My turn!" said Vince drawing. "I summon Mystic Tomato!" (1400/1100) A giant red tomato appeared, the Seal boosting it up to 1900 attack points. "Now, Chaos Sorcerer, rid the field of that Guard!" called Vince, and Chaos Sorcerer blasted the elf swordsman, causing him to fade away. "Now, D.D. Warrior Lady, attack him directly!" he called, and the warrior woman, points at 2000, left towards Gekko.

Yako raised his head weakly, standing in a dark desert. He got to his feet uneasily, looking around. Black sand swirled around in a massive tornado, enclosing Yako and a hovering, two meter diameter black orb.

_Yako_, the voice said. _Yako._

Yako looked at the orb with an expression of fury on his face.

_Accept me, Yako_, said the voice, echoing through his mind.

The dark orb shifted and shimmered, becoming a dark-haired, dark skinned man wearing a closed black coat and gloves.

Yako stared into what for the entire world appeared to be his own eyes.

Gekko reacted quickly, touching a button on his duel disk. "I activate the trap card, Negate Attack!" he yelled. The whirlwinds quickly stifled the attack of the warrior lady.

Vince snarled. "Just how can you be so slippery?!" he asked angrily.

"My turn!" said Gekko, drawing a card. "I plat Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, and discard two." He drew three cards, and then slid two into his graveyard. "I then activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards." He sighed. "That ends my turn."

Vince laughed. "All those cards and no monsters? Aren't there any good duelists in this building? The Great Beast won't be pleased with weak souls."

Gekko looked at Vince. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Vince grinned. "What? Did I just give away everything?" he asked sarcastically.

Gekko narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he said. "Just go."

Vince drew, and slid a card into his disk. "I play my own Pot of Greed, and draw two cards!" he called. "Now, I activate the trap card Meteor Flare!" he called. "By discarding two cards, I can dish out 2000 points of damage!" He slid two cards into the graveyard, and a massive blast of fire slammed into Gekko.

Gekko screamed, and fell to his knees.

Yako heard a scream. "Gekko?" he asked.

_Accept me, Yako_, the voice urged him. _Accept me, and you have the power to save him at your fingertips. _The dark Yako placed its hand on Yako's chest, and a blinding yellow light emanated from it.

Yako screamed as the presence wormed around in his heart. He remembered many things as it twisted and grappled.

"_It's like you're a bad copy of Gekko."_

"_Why is your brother so much better?"_

"_You're just a diamond in the rough, Yako. You're not quite ready yet."_

"_You're different, Yako!"_

"_He's still moving along as a duelist."_

"_Yako! You were a mighty opponent!"_

"I'm not like I was!" he screamed, banishing the voice from his mind.

There was a roar of rage, and the dark Yako disintegrated, its substance melding with the whirlwind.

The dark whirlwind vanished, and Yako found himself curled up on the ground, reaching for the melting stone of the mural on the wall.

Gekko felt something lift from his spirit, smouldering as his life points decreased to 1300. "Yako?" he whispered.

"I'm not finished with you!" yelled Vince, hatred in his eyes. He was degenerating with every passing second now. "I sacrifice my Mystic Tomato and my D.D. Warrior Lady to summon my Dark Magician of Chaos!" he called, and he slapped a card into his disk.

A dark light erupted from around him, and a mage clad tightly in red buckled black leather and holding a long black staff emerged from the dark light, looking at Gekko fiercely. (2800/2600)

"When this bad boy is summoned, I add a spell from the grave to my hand," said Vince. "And I'll play it right away! Go, Pot of Greed!" he called. "I draw two more cards!" He drew, and grinned. "Next, I remove a light and a dark attribute monster to bring out my Chaos Sorcerer!" he called.

Gekko gasped. "Another one?" he yelled in shock.

Another blue-skinned sorcerer appeared in front of Vince. All of his monsters gave vicious grins as the Orichalcos pumped them up, the two Chaos Sorcerer's were at 2800 attack points apiece and Dark Magician of Chaos at 3600.

"No!" yelled Gekko. "I activate Threatening Roar! Now you can't declare an attack for this entire turn!"

Vince cursed. "I end my turn. But you can't do anything against my monsters. Whatever monster you play will be removed from the game."

Gekko looked at Vince evenly. "Then it's a good thing that I don't have any monsters in my hand," he said, drawing.

Vince gaped at Gekko. "Well, you're doomed then," he said. "Hurry up and end your turn!"

"Do you know what my name is?" asked Gekko.

Vince shook his head. "Don't know, don't care."

Gekko narrowed his eyes. "I play the spell card Lightning Vortex," he said. "By discarding my Fighting Spirit, I can destroy every face-up monster that you control."

Vince blanched. "What?" he asked in confusion. "You can't do that."

But the lightning that rained down and shattered his three spellcasters said otherwise. Vince screamed in horror as the pixels faded. "But without monsters, you can't touch me!" he said desperately. _Plus, I've got Monster Reborn in my hand. As soon as the next turn rolls around, it's bye-bye . . . whatever this guy's name is._

"This ends now," said Gekko angrily. "I activate the Armament Reincarnation spell card!" he called. "All the equip cards in my graveyard are now summoned to the field as monsters!" he called. "They each have 500 attack and defence points, plus the effects that they would apply to the monsters that they would equip!" Five ghostly beings drifted onto the field. "Mist Body," said Gekko, indicating an extremely misty being. "Malevolent Nuzzler," he added. "Spirit Slayer. Fighting Spirit. And finally, Shield Reflector." The five beings stared Vince down. "My name is Gekko Tenma!" yelled Gekko. "And you're about to lose!" he added, and the five equip spirits charged Vince down, repeatedly slashing him.

Vince screamed in terror. "Nooooo!" he cried, as his life points dropped to zero. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"No, it wasn't," said a cool voice that only he could hear.

Vince looked up at a man with long green hair, and heterochromic eyes, wearing a lilac suit.

"You revealed much of our plans and information in your bumbling, Vince," he said. "This is just punishment, for one such as you, with the greedy darkness of humanity in his heart."

The Seal closed around Vince, and he frantically beat at the barrier, but his efforts were in vain. The vortex sucked his soul away.

In an ancient temple, the outline of a large man in robes appeared in a carving on the wall.

"Be patient, Great Leviathan," whispered the man who had spoken to Vince. "Soon, you will feast not only on the souls of the Egyptian Gods, but also on those of the Wicked Gods!"

**Bah. It's a bit shorter than the last ones. But I'm so evil. **

**Again, I'm out of things to say except sorry for the wait. But there'll be another one. Another wait, but there will be another chapter.**

**Please review!**


	6. Will to Fight!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos **

**Gooooooooooood morning fanfiction! Hey, this is not a test, this is Yu-Gi-Oh! Oh snap! Everybody get your trading cards ready, because we're about to throw down! So everybody shuffle your freaking decks, but don't include any illegal cards, or you will be disqualified! My exams are over, so I'm updating **_**two**_** chapters for all of my stories that need updating! Oh yeah. It's busn – no, that's just sick. **

**Okaaaaaay. Question. Was everyone really busy, or have I somehow seriously annoyed everyone? I'm just checking, cause I've been feeling kind of awkward right now, and don't know whether anyone's upset with me. If I have upset someone, I'm sorry. I truly am. I know that some people are working their knuckles all the way down to their atoms, that's how intense it was for me. **

**This duel's proven really difficult to write. Not quite as difficult though, as killing Hunters on Halo Reach. Why the hell are those things even called Hunters anyway? They should be called big giant (EFF)'s of death. Seriously, after a while they stop hunting you. And this was just on Normal *sobs*.**

**K5Rakitan: I confess that I haven't seen any of your duels, so I can't comment on them. You just need one hell of a card memory, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia at your fingertips – when the damn wikis work on the iPod. Sorry for the wait.**

_Will to Fight!_

Tilla slid her earpiece back into her pocket, one of the perks for being employed by Industrial Illusions. "Alright then," she said, keeping the apprehension out of her voice. "Hazel Valentine, you stop here."

Hazel looked at them with steel in her eyes. "What makes you think that you can stop me?" she asked.

Tilla raised her arm. "This," she said. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. "It's a symbol of mastery. The black duel disk of the Card Professors Guild." The gleaming black disk stood out on her arm. "It's the symbol of the number one card professor. When I got it I definitely wasn't the top card professor, but I've climbed since then, and now I truly have earned this symbol of mastery. The mastery of all the training that a duelist can receive."

Hazel snorted. "Very nice, but that's all quite useless if you can't use that training," she said. She peered at Reiko Kitamori, who was hiding behind Tilla. "And who's the schoolgirl?" she taunted. "Your little sister?"

"Rich, coming from you," remarked Tilla.

Hazel smiled, and the stone around her neck gleamed. "Poor little girl, so lonely and afraid, and nothing but the promise of the Great Beast awaiting you," she whispered.

She raised her arm, and the scythe-like card zone of her disk deployed. "I think we all know what's coming now."

Tilla shifted the black duel disk to duelling mode, and then, to her surprise, Reiko did the same with her own.

"Reiko, hun, its okay if you don't want to go through with this," she began.

Reiko shook her head. "We have a strategy, and we have to stick to it," she said bravely. She drew her starting hand. "Let's duel!" she cried.

Hazel drew her own hand, and examined the cards. _Good. Terraforming, Machine Angel Ritual, and two Cyber Angels. I'm off to a strong start,_ she thought.

As Tilla drew her own hand, Reiko began her turn, drawing nervously. "I activate Card Destruction!" she called, sliding the card into her disk. "Now we discard our hands and draw replacements."

Hazel scowled as she discarded her hand, but her eyes lit up as she saw that she'd drawn the Seal of Orichalcos.

"I activate Savage Colisseum!" called Reiko, and the trio were surrounded by an ancient Roman coliseum. "Now, we gain 300 life points if a monster attacks, but all attack mode monsters must attack if they can." She placed a horizontal car on her disk. "I summon Puppet Pawn in defence mode," she said, and a pawn shaped soldier appeared. (800/1200) She slotted another card into her disk. "I play Battlefield Tragedy!" she called. "If you attack, you send five cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard during the end of the turn," she explained. "Then I play a facedown card, and end my turn." She slotted the card into her disk, and a card back appeared.

Hazel frowned at the Battlefield Tragedy card.

"My draw," said Tilla, drawing from the black duel disk. "I activate the Call of the Mummy spell card!" she said, sliding the card into the slot. "This allows a zombie to emerge from my hand directly to the field if I control no monsters!" She selected her card. "Rise up, Vampire Lord!" she called. A green haired vampire clad in purple, red-lined clothes materialised in front of Tilla. "Then I'll play the Field Barrier spell card!" said Tilla. "Now, you can't destroy or activate another field spell!" she called.

Hazel snarled, looking at the now useless Seal in her hand.

"I end my turn with a facedown card," said Tilla, slotting the card into her disk with a flourish.

Hazel drew angrily. "I summon Etoile Cyber and place three cards facedown," she said. A blue-skinned brunette wearing a red jumpsuit appeared, (1200/1600) followed by three card images in quick succession. "That's all for me." She nibbled her nails nervously.

Reiko drew. "I summon Puppet Rook, and play a card facedown," she said. A castle-esque monster appeared, crouching. (1200/1800)

Hazel gave Reiko an incredulous look. "Really? You're not attacking?" she asked. "You're never going to win if you don't attack, little girl."

"Like you can talk, short stuff," muttered Tilla, drawing. "Now, Vampire Lord, attack that little Etoile Cyber!" she called. The vampire darted for the gymnast, claws extended.

"I play the trap card, Doble Passé!" called Hazel. "With this, I can turn your attack into a direct attack, which..." she added, activating another trap, "...I can then nullify with Wabuku!"

Vampire Lord kicked Hazel hard, but Hazel stayed on her feet. "Now, one of my monsters gets to attack you directly!" she called. "Etoile Cyber attacks and she gains 500 attack points when she makes a direct attack!" she called.

The dancer lunged, and slammed into Tilla, dropping her to 2300 life points. Tilla staggered. "I end my turn," she said. "Now, Savage Colisseum grants us both 300 life points because we attacked," added Tilla, and warmth flowed into the two duelists, Hazel's life points increasing to 4300, and Tilla's to 2500.

"Battlefield Tragedy is in play," whispered Reiko. "Please discard the top five cards of your decks," she said sheepishly.

"Hazel's eyes narrowed. "So that's how it is," she said, carelessly discarding her cards in disgust.

. .

"Oi!" yelled a gruff voice in Yako's ear.

Yako struggled to his knees from where he'd collapsed. "What . . . happened?" he asked weakly.

Bandit Keith thumbed at the statue on the wall. "That happened, what'd you think?" he said irritably.

Yako looked at the stone sculpture, with the three melted carvings of the fiendish titans. Three cards lay on the ground, still smoking slightly.

Keith saw Yako looking at the cards. "Hands off! If you go nuts again, that'll just add to our house arrest time!" he snapped. "Besides, I thought that you destroyed these things."

"Did you ring for help?" asked Yako.

Keith shook his head. "Yeah right! The only person they'd listen to is currently lost in the halls, looking for those lousy Store-Breakers! After all, to the public, we're dangerous criminals, leading a fragile company! The only reason that we have such nice accommodations is cause of that adoptive father of yours . . ." he muttered.

Yako knew that Keith was right. Despite being influenced, they'd taken hostile action against KaibaCorp, not to mention that Keith was already wanted for other crimes. Despite Keith's lies, Yako had heard what Joey Wheeler had said about Keith. The man had been broken, but as soon as he had his Time Machine card back, he'd begun to heal ever so slightly.

Considering what he'd done, and what he'd nearly done, Yako wasn't going to hold a grudge. He knew how dangerous that was.

"Anyway," said Keith, noting Yako's quietness. "I reckon that I should take out Dirk. He's been beating our machine duelists left and right."

"No," said Yako. "Too many people have gotten hurt already."

"Sweet," remarked Keith sarcastically. "He whacked Yako over the head, knocking him out. "That wasn't a suggestion."

. .

"My turn!" called Hazel, drawing. "I summon Blade Skater in attack mode, and I'll switch Etoile Cyber to defence mode!" she called. A bald dancer with bladed forearms that was clad in a purple body suit appeared, twirling on a pair of skates. (1400/1500) Etoile Cyber knelt in defence mode. "Blade Skater attacks your Puppet Pawn!" called Hazel.

As the skater charged, Reiko covered her eyes and shrieked as her monster was sliced in two.

"Oh, get over it," said Hazel dismissively. "I discard my top five cards, after of course, I set a card, and gain 300 life points, bringing me up to 4600." She slid a card into her disk, slid the top five from her deck into her graveyard, and then basking in yellow light as her life points increased.

"Face it girls, with all these life points, I'll beat you both before I run out of cards," said Hazel, flashing them a smile. "You might as well come at me with everything that you've got."

Reiko looked nervous, and Hazel smiled.

"What's the matter, little girl?" she asked.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Tilla.

"But it's her turn next!" protested Hazel in mock surprise.

They looked at the trembling card professor as she drew her next card . . .

**Cliffhanger! Okay, not really, but you get the meaning.**

**Out of stuff to say, so let's just hope I can keep it together! **

**Please review!**


	7. Will to Fight! Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos **

**Gooooooooooood morning fanfiction! Hey, this is not a test; this is Yu-Gi-Oh! Like I said, my exams are over, so I'm updating **_**two**_** chapters for all of my stories that need updating! Except possibly Dissidia – I need to wait until Zexal finishes so that I can discern the villains more properly. But Faker is a definite inclusion.**

**K5Rakitan: Part of the lines from LittleKuriboh's "I'm On a Blimp." I didn't expect anyone to take that seriously, to tell you the truth. I'd say duel, but, I kinda am in New Zealand, so . . .**

**Kicking Cherries: Hey! How are you doing, Chezza!? Oh heck, is it really that obvious? Sheesh. **

_Will to Fight! Part 2_

Masumi growled in frustration as he jabbed at the lift buttons. This was just ridiculous.

He hated to admit it, but Dirk had been right. The Tenma brothers might have been under house arrest (or Yako at least), but they sure knew how to mess with technology.

_Dirk_, Masumi thought irritably. _At least he's good for something._

The lift squealed, and rose a few floors before shuddering to a halt.

Masumi punched the wall angrily, and slipped out his deck. Or one of them, anyway. He flipped through the deck that was designed to beat the dark attribute, the deck that had been beaten by Yugi Muto, and called up the histories of the card professors. _Which one could be doing this? _He grinned as he looked at one particular one. He quickly grabbed another deck and began melding the contents of the two together.

_Now I should be ready for when that lift door _finally_ opens._

Hazel looked at Reiko rather hungrily as the girl drew. It was only to put her off, and she thought she was doing a very nice job – Reiko looked ready to cry.

Reiko trembled. "I – I play Pot of Greed, and I draw two cards," she said nervously. She drew her two cards and looked them over. _Puppet Pawn and Promotion,_ she thought. _I could launch an offensive with these two cards. _She remembered the words of a man she had met.

_I love duelling! Whenever I play this game, I get psyched up! So why are you duelling like you're scared?_ _A duel where you don't get excited, where you don't even fight? That's just plain boring!_

_I'll fight, and I'll win!_, thought Reiko again. She placed the card onto her disk. "I summon another Puppet Pawn!" she cried. Another monochromatic plaid figure appeared, crouching. She slid a card into her disk. "Then, using the spell card Promotion, I trade him in for my Puppet Queen!" she called. A monochromatic queen figure clutching a sceptre and a shield appeared. (2200/2500)

"You're summoning it in attack mode?" asked Tilla in surprise.

"Puppet Queen!" called Reiko. "Attack Blade Skater!"

The Queen swiped at the dancer.

"Tilla," said Reiko. "Someone once told me that if you don't fight in a duel, you don't defeat your opponent! That's why I'll fight with all my strength!"

Tilla smiled. "I think I know the guy," she remarked.

"Big deal!" retorted Hazel, flipping a facedown. "I activate Magic Cylinder!"

Two massive cylinders appeared behind Hazel.

"This card negates your attack," explained Hazel as Puppet Queen plunged her sceptre into the first cylinder. "Then it redirects it at you!" The sceptre came out of the other cylinder, and lanced into Reiko.

Reiko shrieked as her life points dropped to 1800. She trembled as she sent the top five cards of her deck to the graveyard, and then gained 300 life points from the effect of Savage Coliseum, bringing her up to 2100.

Tilla drew quickly. They had to end this. "First I play Pot of Greed, and draw two more cards. I then remove my Vampire Lord," she said. The green skinned vampire grinned, and faded away. "Now I can summon Vampire Genesis!" called Tilla. (3000/2100)

A massive purple skinned, demonic vampire burst out of the ground in front of Tilla, baring its yellow fangs as its cape fluttered.

"And, by discarding a zombie from my hand," added Tilla, as she sent Despair from the Dark to the graveyard. "I can summon one with equal or fewer stars from my hand!"

Hazel grinned. "Your master rises," she whispered gleefully.

"I call forth my Vampire's Curse!" called Tilla, and a more bestial vampire with long nails burst out of the ground with a feral snarl. (2000/1600) "Say what you will, hun," said Tilla angrily. "But I am no-one's servant!" she cried.

"Except Yako's," said Hazel helpfully.

Tilla gritted her teeth, and forced herself to calm down. "On your knees!" she yelled.

Much to Hazel's surprise, her monsters obeyed. "Hey, what's the deal?" she protested.

"Spell card, Overpowering Eye!" called Tilla. "A zombie with 2000 or less attack points may attack you directly!"

Vampire's Curse lunged, and scythed its nails across Hazel's torso. Hazel cried out as her life points dropped to 2600. She quickly recovered, flipping another trap card. "I activate the trap card, Flashbang! Now that I've suffered an attack, the battle ends!"

Tilla frowned, and discarded the top five cards of her deck, then glowed as her life points increased to 2800.

"My turn," said Hazel with authority. She smiled. "What a coincidence! I play my Pot of Greed, two cards for me thanks!" she said cheerfully. "I play Polymerization! Now, I fuse Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber to create Cyber Blader!" she cried.

The two dancers swirled together, forming a new dancer with long purple hair, a scarlet bodysuit, bladed skates, and a visor covering her face. (2100/800)

"Cyber Blader my dear, take out that Puppet Rook!" called Hazel. The dancer slashed with her feet, bisecting the unfortunate castle-esque monster.

Reiko yelped as her monster shattered.

"Now, since my opponents have three monsters, the effects of your cards are negated!" added Hazel. "Then, I'll equip Heart of Clear Water to Cyber Blader to prevent you from destroying her with special abilities!"

Tilla froze. _Oh no! My Field Barrier isn't in effect anymore!_

Hazel slid the last card out of her hand. "Your fates are sealed. Hee-hee, get it?" she asked, sliding the card into her field spell zone.

The Savage Coliseum shattered as a circle of green light expanded from Hazel's duel disk, enclosing the three duelists. Then, lines of green light traced out an asymmetrical six pointed star.

Hazel laughed and screamed as the same symbol appeared on her head, and her eyes glowed with a nasty shade of red.

"I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!"

Gekko rounded the corner of the staircase in frustration. Dirk had taken the time that Vince had unabatedly bought him, and had practically vanished into the building.

_He hasn't left this building, though_, thought Gekko. _I'd know. I'm sure of it._

He jumped as Bandit Keith lurched down the stairs. "Any changes, Keith?" asked Gekko.

"Yako's in the meeting room," replied the card professor. "He doesn't look so good, you'd probably better check on him."

Gekko's heart jumped in surprise. _No. _"Yako!" he cried, pushing past Keith and running up the stairs.

Keith watched him go. "Thaaaat's right Gekko, go help your little brother," he said under his breath. He turned away, and stumbled down the stairs, fumbling with the door and stepping into the hallway. "I've got a little bit o' business to take care of," he muttered to himself, leaning heavily against the wall.

Reiko and Tilla watched as Hazel straightened up with an evil grin, as did her Cyber Blader as its attack points increased to 2600.

"Now you're in for it," said Hazel, panting heavily.

"Us!?" yelled Tilla. "What about you?! You just played that card, and not only do you look like you're on your last legs, but you're sealing your own doom, playing that Seal! We saw what you did to Osler and the others!"

"Thank heaven Ms. Kato isn't here," whispered Reiko.

Hazel giggled. "If that's the case, then you know that you're beaten," she replied. She discarded the top five cards of her deck. Despite the fact that she'd lost over half her deck, she didn't look worried. "Go on little girl," she taunted.

Trembling, Reiko drew. "I – I switch Puppet Queen into defence mode," she stuttered. The Queen knelt, drawing her shield over her head. "Turn over."

"Is that all?" asked Hazel with a grin. "You're mine, little girl."

"Enough with the taunting!" yelled Tilla angrily, drawing viciously. _Good. I need to bolster Reiko's confidence, or we're screwed. And this'll take care of another problem! _"I activate the spell card Mystic Wok!" she called. "Now I can sacrifice a monster, and add one of its power values to Reiko's life points! Add I choose the attack stat of my so-called master, Vampire's Curse!" she called.

The bestial vampire turned and snarled – right before it was dropped into a massive frying pan, glowing with light before dissolving into Reiko, raising her life points to 4100.

Reiko gasped. "Tilla!" she cried.

"Now, Vampire Genesis!" called Tilla. "Strike down her Cyber Blader!" she yelled. The gargantuan vampire charged, fists raised for a devastating double blow.

Hazel grinned. "Gotcha!" she cried. "If you guys only have two monsters, Cyber Blader's attack points double!" Cyber Blader stood proudly, with the Seal glowing in its head, and cruelly swiped at Vampire Genesis' neck with a lethal kick.

Tilla gasped as a massive force struck her across the face and sent her spinning, life points down to 600. She landed on her hands and knees with a cry of pain.

"Tilla!" cried Reiko again.

"With only one monster, my Blader's attack points decrease," said Hazel wistfully. "Got any other useless moves that you wanna try?"

Tilla discarded the top five cards of her deck, bringing her down to eleven cards. "No," she said. "My turn's over."

Up at the rooftop, a spiky haired man was fiddling with the controls of a display, listening with appreciation at the angry yells of its occupant. He held back a chuckle as Masumi spewed rather strange obscenities over the radio.

"_When I find whoever is doing this, I shall seal their soul away for all of time! First I'll crush them like a dog! I'll strip them of control! And I'll slap their soulless husk with whatever they're using to mess with me!"_

The man pounded his fists on the side on the controls in silent laughter, and then dropped to the floor, clutching his sides.

"It's my turn!" yelled Hazel, drawing. She looked over the field. There was no doubt – her next move was clear.

_Say bye-bye, vampiress_, she thought with relish. "Now, Cyber Blader, attack Tilla directly!" she called.

Tilla simply knelt in defeat as the dancer slammed another powerful kick into her, and her life points fell to zero.

The Seal began to close around her as she moved her hand to her disk.

"Nooo! Tilla!" cried Reiko. "Don't leave me alone!"

Tilla Mook sadly raised her head as green light flowed around her.

**Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo! I can't watch, even though I made this happen! Don't worry about Keith, people, he won't pull anything. Or will he...?**

**You never knoooow, you never, never know again! Dun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nuuun. You never know it, but I don't show it. You never, never knoooow.**

**Okay, I'll stop. I've run out of quips.**

**But, of course...**

**PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW, PEOPLES! **

**That means you. Yes you. You in the corner.**


	8. Will to Fight! Part 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos **

**I just feel . . . hmm, meh, today. I know it sounds weird. It's dreary and rainy, and too early for the Xbox. So this chapter might not be as good. But I need to try and cheer myself up. This is the final part of this duel, don't worry! Then, I move on to badassness. Now I have a spark of apprehension. Hah-hah!**

**China Smith: Why don't you trust him? Hee-hee-hee. I don't blame your caution. I liked Tilla as well, but she had to fall. Thanks, I just try to stick with a few concepts throughout the entire duel and see what happens. This is soon . . . usually. Okay, it is.**

_Will to Fight! Part 3_

Tilla cried out as green light rushed past her. She struggled to lift her hand to her disk, but she could feel herself getting weaker and weaker.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha!" laughed Hazel madly. "You lost! Now you've gotta pay the price!" she said. _This power!_, she thought. _It always feels so good!_

"I . . ." groaned Tilla.

Hazel smiled, and put her hand to her ear. "Pardon me?" she asked.

"I activate the trap," said Tilla. "Call of the Haunted!" The card flipped up, and smoke began to waft over the floor.

Hazel growled. _Oh shoot._

"This trap brings back Vampire's Curse in attack mode!" yelled Tilla with one final effort. The bestial vampire leapt onto the field with a snarl. Then, Tilla hit the ground as her soul was sucked away, and the cone of green light vanished.

For a moment there was silence, broken only by Reiko's muffled sobbing.

Gekko skidded round the corner, and broke open the door to the meeting room.

Yako lay sprawled on the ground, groaning.

"Yako!" cried Gekko, running toward his twin. He knelt on the floor and turned his brother onto his back. "Yako, what happened?" he asked.

Yako moaned. "Keith . . ." he whispered.

"He told me where you were," said Gekko.

"He took . . ." gasped Yako, before falling unconscious again.

Gekko looked around, and gasped as he saw the damage done to the wall statue. _What in the world could have done that?_, he thought in shock.

_I'm alone_, thought Reiko numbly. _I'm all alone._

"Oi!" yelled Hazel. "I discard five cards from my deck, leaving me with eleven," she said, sliding the cards into her graveyard. "Now get up, hurry up, and lose! I don't wanna waste my time on small fry when I've gotta bigger fish to worry about!"

Reiko drew numbly. Then her eyes lit up.

_Tilla left me Vampire's Curse to give me a better chance,_ she thought. _Now I've got the chance that I needed!_ "I sacrifice two monsters in order to summon my Puppet King!" she cried. A tornado shredded Puppet Queen and Vampire's Curse, and then a new monster rose up, a monochromatic monster with a crimson cape, and some strips of gold armour, holding a massive staff. (2800/2600)

Hazel looked sideways as her Cyber Blader's strength shrank to 2600 again. She scowled angrily.

"Puppet King, attack Cyber Blader!" cried Reiko. "Majestic Checker!"

The giant monster slammed the butt of his staff into Cyber Blader's abdomen, knocking both the monster and Hazel backwards with twin screams.

Hazel groaned as her life points fell to 2400. "When you only have one monster, Cyber Blader can't be destroyed in battle," she said triumphantly.

_No! I was so close!_, thought Reiko. "Your turn," she said. "But you can't beat my Puppet King. I just need to chip away at your life points, and then you'll fall!" She discarded five cards from her deck.

Hazel drew. "What was that?" she asked, sliding a card into her disk. "I play Fusion Sword Murasame Blade!" she said with a smile. "It gives my monster an extra 800 attack points!" A long katana appeared in Cyber Blader's hands, and she grinned as her attack points increased to 3400.

"Eek!" yelped Reiko.

"Attack her now!" yelled Hazel, and the fusion monster sliced Puppet King in half, dropping Reiko to 3500 life points.

Reiko screamed, and activated a facedown card. "I play my Rope of Life to bring back my Puppet King!" she called. A rope dove into the ground, and yanked Puppet King out of the floor, his strength boosted to 3600. "My trap brings my King back with 800 more attack points, but I have to discard my hand," admitted Reiko sheepishly, sliding her card into the graveyard.

Hazel's jaw fell open. _She's just lost her partner. Her soul is on the line. And she has room to get embarrassed? What is wrong with this girl? _"I play one card face down," said Hazel. "Then I discard five cards from my deck due to the effect of your Battlefield Tragedy." She started to get concerned – there were only five cards left!

Reiko drew. "I'm fighting until the end!" she cried. "Puppet King, attack her Cyber Blader!" The King charged, and swiped at Cyber Blader, knocking her upside with a blow to the head.

Hazel yelled in pain as her life points fell to 2200.

"I play a facedown card," said Reiko. "Then, I discard five cards, leaving me with eight."

Hazel drew, but Reiko stopped her.

"I play Pigeonholding Books of Spell!" cried Reiko. "I check the top three cards of my deck, and then rearrange them as I choose!" She put Mirror Force on top, and slid her cards back into her disk.

Hazel sighed. "I summon Cyber Tutu!" she called. The small ballerina leapt onto the field, eyes glowing as the Seal appeared in its forehead. (1000/800) "When your monsters have more attack points than mine, this girl gets to attack you directly!" said Hazel with a small laugh. "Attack directly with Pounding Pirouette!" she called, and Cyber Tutu leapt past Puppet King and kicked Reiko in the stomach, bringing her down to 2000 life points.

Hazel smiled at the other girl's discomfort. "Now there goes the rest of my deck. Or does it?" she asked. "Maybe you should make sure that I don't reach the next turn."

Reiko looked nervously at the facedown card. _I can take out her life points with Puppet King if I attack Cyber Tutu! _"I draw!" she cried, drawing her Mirror Force. "Puppet King, attack Cyber Tutu with Majestic Checker!" she called, and the King lunged again.

"I activate a trap card," replied Hazel. "Trap of Darkness."

Reiko froze.

"I guess you know what it does," remarked Hazel, panting heavily. "It allows me to pay a thousand life points to activate the effect of another trap card from my graveyard. I choose Magic Cylinder."

The twin cylinders appeared behind Hazel again.

Reiko bowed her head as Puppet King's staff plunged into one sceptre and lanced out of the other, knocking her flying. Her glasses fell off as her life points decreased to zero.

The Seal closed around Reiko, but this time, Hazel didn't laugh. She trembled at how close she'd come to losing. And she remembered the empty look in Reiko's eyes as her soul left her body.

She deactivated her duel disk, staggered over to a nearby room, and nearly threw up into a trash can.

_Is this what I really signed up for?_, she thought weakly. She shook her head. _That's enough, Hazel. You've got a job to do. Besides, they fought you because Tenma told them to, and he tried to get rid of Tea and the others. He's a bad guy. Master Dartz is trying to help the world._

She left the room reassured, but found a room with some couches and dragged Tilla and Reiko into the room, laying their soulless bodies down on the couches.

She shuddered, looking down at their empty eyes, and closed their eyelids.

Then she sat down, and looked at the wall in shame.

Dirk wandered down the hall. Dodging Gekko had been too easy and he was starting to wonder why their employer wanted this place taken out.

Something moved in his peripheral vision, and he swung around.

"Who's there," he asked.

No-one answered, much to his frustration. He turned away and began walking down the corridor again, not noticing his follower shadowing him from the upper balconies.

**I got rather depressed writing this. Not cause it's sad or anything, I'm just in a depressed mood today. Don't worry . . . it'll pass. I'll be fine.**

**Please . . . rate and review.**HHh 


	9. Dust to Dust

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos **

**Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhh h! I am out of my extremely temporary depression! Thanks to everyone that offered sympathy. **

**And, because I'm so happy right now, I'll speed update for you guys! **

**K5Rakitan: Not really – it's summer in NZ, and we had a forty days and forty nights rain last summer. It was just dreary and depressing, and I didn't feel like doing much. Thanks for your liking of the action.**

**Cosmic Kiss: Inspiring you for a later chapter of this or The Edge of Doma? At times, hmm? Name when I haven't been up to scratch. Please? And thank you, you're awesome. (Did you know that you're awesome?)**

_Dust to Dust_

Dirk had been walking apprehensively down the twisting corridors of the Industrial Illusions building for at least an hour – and still nothing had happened, nor had he found anything. NOTHING! How could this building be so empty? Had they seriously chewed through that many card professors already?

Then, he heard movement behind him. He turned around and crumpled with an agonized gasp as Bandit Keith slammed into his stomach, having jumped down from the balcony and sprinted down the hall.

"Take that, Store Breaker!" yelled Keith triumphantly. He burst out laughing as he staggered upright. "I have been waiting a whole year for that!" he chuckled. "Well, not really. But it sounds cool when I bring that out. But in all seriousness, I have been waiting to do that ever since I heard that you took out every other machine duelist in the building!"

Dirk sprang back to his feet and charged with a growl.

Keith naturally dodged, allowing Dirk to slam head first into the wall. "Whoops," he remarked.

Dirk was hopping mad now. He armed his disk, deploying the scythe-like card zone. "It's on, you old freak!" he snarled. "You and me. Now."

"Oh, if you insist," said Keith, shifting his own disk to duelling mode. "C'mon, Store-Breaker, let's duel!"

Willa Mette clutched his sides as he listened to the curses that Masumi was _still_ spouting from the elevator.

"Willa!" yelled another voice.

The card professor jumped, thinking that Masumi had figured out who he was but it was Richie's voice, coming from a screen in the wall next to Willa.

"You do have other plans then laughing at a guy boxed in an elevator, right?" snarled Richie angrily.

Willa waved his hand. "Chill. I heard that Gekko took out one of the dudes, so I figure that I'll wait until someone else goes down, and then I'll let him up."

Richie gave him a doom glare for a full minute before Willa cracked under the pressure of the glare.

"What? If we can keep the guy holed up longer, why not?" he protested defensively.

Richie sighed. "I'll tell you when the next bad guy goes down. And when you duel that sorry loser, make him pay for what he did to Depre."

"Gotcha," said Willa casually, before bursting out laughing at another round Masumi's cursing.

Richie gave him another look before cutting the connection with a snort.

Down below, Hazel was still sitting on the couch feeling terrible about what she'd done.

_Mako had deserved it_, she told herself, biting her nails. _Bakura got in the way._ _That little shrimp helped Tenma kidnap Tea, along with the rest of those card professors. So why do I feel like I do?_

_Yes_, said a voice in her head. _Why do you feel the way you do, Miss Valentine?_

Hazel looked up to see a teal haired man in a purple business suit standing in front of her. She knew this was all in her head, of course, but that didn't stop her from jumping in surprise.

"You scared me, Dartz," she said irritably.

"I apologize," said Dartz, looking around the room. "I did not mean to interrupt, but must I remind you that you have a job to do, don't you Miss Valentine?" He paused to see her reaction, and was pleased when she vigorously nodded.

"You have to capture the soul of Yako Tenma, and bring his Wicked God cards to me," reminded Dartz. "This must be done to ensure the rebirth of the Great Leviathan!"

"How's Alister doing?" asked Hazel in concern.

"He is fine, though consumed with his hatred for Seto Kaiba," replied Dartz.

"Can't really blame him," said Hazel, not seeing Dartz's smirk.

"I leave your task up to you," said Dartz, vanishing from Hazel's mind. "Do not fail."

Hazel sat there for a few minutes, and then got up, and walked to the door.

But she couldn't help taking one last look at Tilla and Reiko's soulless bodies.

Bandit Keith drew his starting hand, and then rudely drew another card. "My turn!" he crowed. "I summon my Engine Shell in defence mode!" he called. (1300/1800) An engine with two hemispheres attached to chain appeared.

"Then I'll pop these two down and call it a move," called Keith. "Let's see you get outta this one, punk!"

"I draw," said Dirk calmly. Now that he was in a duel, he was keeping his cool. "I summon Green Gadget and add Red Gadget to my hand." (1400/700) The green gear-robot hybrid appeared, striking a pose. "Then I also place two cards facedown." Two card images appeared behind Green Gadget. "That's it for me."

"Sheesh," remarked Keith sarcastically. He drew. "Well, _someone's_ gotta attack!" he said. He slapped a card into his duel disk. "I summon another Engine Shell in defence mode!" he called. "Then, I equip the first one with Engine Tuner!" he grinned. "The machine that's equipped with this can't defend, and gains attack points equal to half its defence points!"

One of the Engine Shells straightened, and a horde of goblins in green overalls swarmed over it, tightening bolts, and raising the machines attack points to 2200.

"Cannon Ball!" laughed Keith. "Take out his widdle Gadget!" Engine Shell slammed the two hemispheres together and fired – and Dirk swung his arm back.

"Predictable," he muttered. "I play the Saraketsu Armour trap card!" he called. "Say goodbye to your monster, because this trap takes it out when it attacks!"

Keith cursed as his monster shattered. "Ah well."

Dirk smiled, and then looked in shock at the other Engine Shell, which was covered in the little green garage goblins, tightening up the joints.

Keith laughed derisively. "You can't keep these little fella's off the job so easy!" he laughed. "Engine Tuner remains on the field when the monster it's equipped to hits the junk-heap, and looks for a new target to equip. And if there isn't one, it bides its time, waiting until there is one!"

Dirk frowned.

"Plus, when Engine Shell gets broken up for scrap, it leaves a little part behind – an Engine Part Token!" added Bandit Keith. A small mass of twisted metal lay at Keith's feet. (0/0)

"My turn's over," said Keith flippantly.

Dirk drew, and a crazed grin leapt onto his face.

_Well, shoot. This can't be good_, thought Keith angrily.

"I activate the Ultimate Offering trap card!" called Dirk. "At the cost of 500 life points, each player can summon an extra monster." He grinned. "Now I summon Red Gadget!" he called. (1300/800) The red gadget-robot hybrid jumped onto the field. "When he's summoned, I add Yellow Gadget from my deck to my hand! Now I'll pay 500 life points to summon Yellow Gadget!" he said, life points decreasing to 3500. (1200/1200) The yellow robot-gear hybrid appeared. "With his effect, I add Green Gadget to my hand. I now pay 500 life points to summon Green Gadget, and use his effect to add Red Gadget to my hand." Another Green Gadget jumped into play, and Dirk's life points became 3000. "Then I pay another 500 life points, bringing me down to 2500, to summon Red Gadget and add Yellow Gadget to my hand!" A second Red Gadget leapt onto the field.

_Great_, thought Keith. _Five monsters at once. But, it's not like he can use them to take out _all_ of my life points this turn._

"I now pay 500 life points," said Dirk, life points decreasing to 2000. "So that I can sacrifice Green Gadget and Red Gadget to bring out Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" he yelled.

A massive wyvern made of twisted metal and with gears instead of hind legs rose up behind with an echoing roar Dirk as he laughed maniacally. (3000/2000)

"Next, I pay 500 life points," (his life points decreased to 1500) "to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera by sacrificing my other Green Gadget!" (2300/1300) An ape-like behemoth made out of scrap metal rose, armoured in green, with four heads, one on its tail. Each head howled. "Since he was summoned by sacrificing Green Gadget, he gains 300 attack points!" crowed Dirk. "And finally, by paying 500 life points, I summon Yellow Gadget and add Green Gadget to my hand!" Another Yellow Gadget rose up as Dirk's life points became 1000.

"Finally, I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" yelled Dirk, slamming the card into his disk. The Seal expanded out from his disk, and the symmetrical six pointed star traced itself out. Then it appeared in his forehead, and in those of his monsters, including all four of Ancient Gear Gadjiltron's heads.

Their eyes glowed red, as their strength increased. The two Yellow Gadgets were at 1700 attack points, Red Gadget was at 1800 attack points, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera was at 3100 attack points, and Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon was at 3500 attack points.

Keith cried out in shock as he looked at the monster army that was standing before him, and his hand crept to his disk.

"Fall into the darkness of the Great Beast!" yelled Dirk. "Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, attack the . . ."

Gekko ran down the hall for the security booth, his lungs on fire.

_I've got to stop Keith before he can get out of the building_, he thought. _If he does, the Seal of Orichalcos won't be the most dangerous thing out there! He'll take that place!_

**Dun-nun-nun! Dun-nun-nun! Dun-nun-nun!**

**I'll leave it there; I want to have the duel last a little longer.**

**Reviews equal updates. Kind of. So please review! Pretty please?**


	10. Dust to Dust Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos.**

**Hey, what's up everybody? Did you miss me?**

**Good lord, it's been a while since I've updated this story. Horrifying, isn't it? With this being the tenth chapter, making it my second story to get into double digits, I figured I'd thank everyone who's reviewed so far. To all those who've favourite and not reviewed, I thank you as well. You guys motivate me to write this, all of you. This epic mood is also a result of listening to "Nemesis." Heavy song/track. I also found that I'd done quite well in my exams this semester, as opposed to doing absolutely poorly last semester. Boo-yah!**

**K5Rakitan: Well, Pegasus **_**would **_**have had a hand in designing the buildings for Industrial Illusions. That probably accounts for a lot. The fact that the building is doubling as a jail and that this is set at night also makes it quite empty.**

**Cosmic Kiss (Cozzy): She knows she's awesome; it's her character that has helped make this such an interesting fic so far. I'm seriously hoping I have used her properly.**

**China Smith: Thanks for the duel compliments, again. To any who write duels, have some specific goals in mind, and if it gets to the stage where you have to use or invent cards to replenish the hand . . . it's probably usually **_**not**_** a good sign.**

**Kicking Cherries (Chezza): AKA, Gekko's fiancé. Don't argue with that one. Thanks for all the praise, you're just great. Hoping to see an update soon! *Thumbs-up-finger-snap* I take full credit for introducing you. *nervous grin* Don't hurt me.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: Sanokal is feeling generous. He welcomes any attempts on his soul . . . they generally bring reviews with them. Heh-heh-heh. Proof that I must slowly be going insane . . . if I'm not already. Thanks guys! Now I'll have to get to at least 20 chapters!**

_Dust to Dust! Part 2_

Bandit Keith had had one heck of a rocky life. He'd become a Duel Monsters Champion, at which point he'd degenerated into what most people saw now. He'd been unseated and humiliated by Maximillion Pegasus, and plotted revenge ever since.

Without said opportunity, he degenerated even more, falling into depression, and making contact with the underground. The Duelist Kingdom tournament had provided his first opportunity to get back at Pegasus, and he teamed up with, and then betrayed a trio of duelists, who come to think of it had been reported missing . . .

After one of them was defeated by an amateur, he didn't think much of it, having locked them underground to starve, but they'd managed to slip out of that one – not that it mattered that much.

But then that punk, Joey Wheeler, defeated him in the semi-finals, ruining his chances of revenge! He made a desperate attempt to get the prize money from Pegasus, but the cunning prima doma had dumped him into the ocean.

Then, Marik had found him, struggling in the water. He'd brainwashed him, and forced him to duel Yugi Muto, taking that pendant of his. He struggled to resist, but the man was just too powerful. And even when he did escape, Marik shattered his mind and dumped what was left into the darkness.

He didn't think he'd get out of that one, but Yako Tenma had brought him back with the power of a card, and then given him the card. Looking for information about the disappearance of Pegasus provided the opening that Keith needed to get back at Joey Wheeler. And so, he orchestrated the entire R.A. Project – or set the foundations, anyway.

But Wheeler had beaten him _again_. He'd returned the card he'd 'borrowed,' telling Keith to remember how it felt to duel for fun before coming to find him again.

Of course, the authorities had placed him under arrest. Tenma vouched for him, requesting that the former card professor be kept under house arrest with him. Apparently, Wheeler had told Tenma what he'd told Keith.

And yet Keith still felt that he was in more danger than he'd ever been in his life, looking across at Dirk, who was hidden behind his Gadget monsters.

He activated the trap card before Dirk could attack.

"I activate the Damage Diet trap card!" he yelled. "Now, I'm gonna use this trap to halve the damage that I take this turn!" he yelled.

Dirk gritted his teeth – he'd been hoping to take Keith out without using too many monsters. "Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon attacks your Engine Part Token!" he yelled. The gigantic mechanical dragon fired a blast of flame at the piece of scrap, melting it in an instant.

Keith cried out as the flames surrounded him, life points down to 2250.

"Because I sacrificed Red Gadget to summon my Dragon, he dishes out 400 more points of pain when he deals damage!" yelled Dirk. The Dragon fired a spikes past Keith, the glancing blow knocking the man to his knees as his life points fell to 2050.

"Now, Gadjiltron Chimera attacks your puny Engine Shell!" snarled Dirk. The tri headed beast bellowed and charged, head butting Keith's monster and shattering it. Keith groaned, and clutched his stomach, life points at 1450.

"Engine Shell summons an Engine Part Token," he gasped. Another pile of scrap appeared. (0/0)

"Red Gadget, cleave it in half!" laughed Dirk. The red robot chopped the monster in half, and Keith collapsed as his life points went down to 550.

"Now, Yellow Gadget, attack directly!" yelled Dirk.

Keith moved his hand weakly to his disk, and touched a button. "I play the spell card, Dark Wall of Air!" he moaned. "It blocks your direct attacks this turn," he explained, and a dark tornado surrounded his weakened form.

"Of course," said Dirk, unconcerned. "My Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon picks up the boost from your Engine Tuner, bringing him up to 4500 attack points!" The great machine bellowed as its strength rose, the goblin engineers swarming over it.

Keith groaned as he tried to push himself to his feet. Though his duels in the KaibaCorp building had dealt real damage, it hadn't been anything like what this Seal had dealt. He hadn't been expecting this amount of pain.

He slumped back to the ground again with a cry of pain, and looked with dim eyes at his duel disk.

Black smoke seemed to pour from it.

He struggled up again as Dirk laughed.

"Well, well, Mr Bandit, it seems that you've reached your last legs, old man. Why don't you just give up? Let the Great Beast claim your soul so that we can rid the world of people like you!"

"Let's get something straight on the pecking order, you little runt!" snarled Keith. "First there's you, then the dirt! Then there are the worms inside the dirt! Then there's my deck. Then Tenma – and then me. The great Bandit Keith!"

He drew ferociously. "I will not tolerate this kind of disrespect, you lower-than-dirt lowlife!" roared Keith furiously. "And to prove it, I first play Pot of Greed! With two more cards, things look a lot brighter!" He drew two more cards. "Then I play four cards facedown!" he said. "That's my turn done!"

"All you proved is that you're losing your mind," remarked Dirk calmly. "You can't activate spell or trap cards when my Ancient Gears attack you." He drew.

"And that's my cue!" said Keith. "I activate the trap card, Yellow Alert! Now, I summon a monster in defence mode to shield me!" He selected the card. "I summon Engine Violence!" he called.

A giant hotrod engine with legs and cannons attached appeared in front of Keith, crossing its gun-arms in front of it. (2100/1200)

"Then, I'll destroy my own monster with Fiendish Trap Hole as it was summoned by an effect!" laughed Keith. The monster shattered, leaving behind twin piles of scrap – Engine Part Tokens. "Next, I play the Scrap Garage trap!" laughed Keith. "Since my Engine hit the scrap heap, this card summons all the Engines in my graveyard!"

Two Engine Shells, followed by Engine Violence, burst out of the graveyard with the creaking of rusting metal.

"Their effects rust away, along with their points, but they're still defenders!" said Keith. "Finally, I play Threatening Roar! This trap prevents you from attacking!" He grinned. "I did that all before you could attack, so go ahead and end your turn."

Dirk scoffed. "Don't think that you can get away with that. I'll just finish you off next turn!" He slid two cards into his disk. "I play these two cards facedown, and end my turn." _Seriously? Four trap cards in one turn? Well, it doesn't matter. With Sareketsu Armour and Stronghold the Moving Fortress, I'm sorted. This guy can't even match my monsters power, especially when boosted by the almighty Seal of Orichalcos!_

Bandit Keith drew, praying for a life saving card. He peeked nervously at it._ This'll help._ "I activate the Graceful Charity spell card! I draw three cards, and then I discard two!" He drew three cards, and grinned. "That's it. I win."

Dirk didn't believe him, but Keith had one dangerous look on his face that showed that he believed what he said.

Keith held up a card, screaming. "I sacrifice my three Engine monsters to summon this card!" he yelled, slamming it onto his duel disk.

He screamed as blue fog wafted about the area.

Dirk squinted as a dark beam of power erupted out of the ground behind Bandit Keith. A gigantic serpentine form emerged from the fog, sickly pink, with stubby arms, dark wings, and a colossal beaked head, with a fiendish face underneath it. The giant monster roared at Dirk, and even with the Seal of Orichalcos bolstering him, he felt fear. (?/?)

"Hah-hah!" laughed Keith. "Lemme introduce the Wicked Eraser!"

"Bu-but, that's a God card," protested Dirk, composure down the drain. "You're not supposed to have that, Yako Tenma is!"

Keith shrugged. "I reacquired this guy. And he's going to take you down! The Wicked Eraser gains 1000 attack points for every card that you control!"

"One thousand? For each one?" asked Dirk in horror. "But I have-"

"_Eight,_" said Keith. "Let's see your dragon match up to the Eraser!"

The Wicked Eraser keened loudly, attack points at 8000.

He raised his arm. "I forgot how this felt!" he yelled, as black smoke shrouded him. "Wicked Eraser, destroy Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon with Digestive Breath!"

The Wicked Eraser's beak cranked open, a terrible sucking sound was heard, and it blasted a stream of liquid energy at Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, dissolving the mighty mechanical dragon.

Dirk howled as the backlash dropped his life points to zero.

Keith staggered backward as the holograms disappeared, and the Seal closed in on Dirk.

"This can't be happening!" screamed Dirk. "Noooooooooo!"

There was a rushing sound as his soul was swept away.

Keith groaned, and walked over to Dirk's soulless body, grabbing the green stone that the Store Breaker had worn around his neck, then the Seal of Orichalcos card that had fallen out of his clothes. He put them in his pocket.

"I don't have to worry about that," he muttered. "Not with something worse tugging at me."

. .

Gekko opened the door to the security booth. "Richie!" he yelled.

Richie turned from the screens. "We got a problem . . . I think," he said grimly.

Gekko looked at the screen to see the Eraser blasting Dirk's monsters away.

"That was from a few minutes ago," said Richie. "He's coming back upstairs now."

Gekko sighed in relief – no need to worry about Keith escaping then.

. .

In the temple, Dartz knelt in front of the altar, watching as a carving of a thin man in robes appeared beside that of the large man in robes.

"My soldiers fall, and yet still the Wicked Gods elude me," he said calmly.

"But no matter." He looked at another of his newest carvings – the image of a boy with spiky hair, and wearing an upside-down pyramid around his neck.

"After all, all souls are destined to come to me."

Dartz rose, and walked toward three serpent mouths, where three cards sat.

One blue, depicting a blue-skinned giant.

One red, depicting a scarlet, snake-like dragon.

One yellow, depicting a golden bird-like dragon.

**That's the pecking order for you. You don't mess with the pecking order.**

**Yeah, I'm just rambling. Not sure exactly how the next chapters are gonna go from here on out. **

**But that's the fun part.**

**Please review! I like talking to you guys!**


	11. Saber's Edge Part 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos.**

**It's been too long since I wrote for this story. I'm so terribly sorry. Seriously, what's happening? Oh yeah, my mate was up from down south, so I was occupied with all that, plus playing Halo 4. I know, I know, most of you are going to call it sacrilege. But have you **_**seen **_**the campaign for this game? It's freaking epic! **

**Sorry, I'm getting distracted. **

**This chapter, Masumi's deck is finally revealed! . . . for his duel against Willa. He is called the duelist who uses a hundred decks, but you've seen a bit of this before. Maybe.**

**K5Rakitan: Thanks. Not sure how much Keith action there will be, but I am trying to portray him as being slightly redeeming himself. Slightly.**

**Kicking Cherries: Yeah, I know this wasn't soon . . . it normally is, I'm sorry! And no-one will forget it, you know that, Chezza.**

_Saber's Edge! Part 1_

Richie Merced rested back in his seat in the Industrial Illusions Asian division security centre. "So, Gekko, what's going to be happening?" he asked. "There's two of 'em down, but there's still one of them left free."

"What about the other one?" asked Gekko.

"Him?" replied Richie. "He's still steaming in the elevator while Willa laughs his head off at his antics."

The door crashed open, and Richie and Gekko spun around.

Yako stood in the doorway, hunched and panting. "These people have been capturing souls to power their wretched creature!" he hissed in a voice unlike his own. "This is true wickedness, and it must be punished. Turn their own Seal against them and let Willa deal with the fool in the elevator!" he snarled.

"Can't we just leave him in there?" asked Richie, keeping his cool.

"_They stole the soul of Master Pegasus!"_ yelled Yako. This time, Gekko could swear he saw a wisp of black smoke.

Richie tapped a few buttons. "Hey Willa, it's me. Yako says to let the dude out and kick his butt from here to New Mexico."

"_Really?"_ asked Willa over the radio. "_Okay then."_

Richie signed off, and turned just in time to see Gekko activate his disk.

"Come with me now, Yako," said Gekko angrily.

"No!" said Yako. "I'm going to find that other operative and make her pay! Her sister is the one who stole the soul of Master Pegasus!"

Richie looked back and forth between the twins, and decided to ask Gekko what was happening, seeing as he looked the more rational of the two at the moment. "Gekko . . . what exactly is going on?"

"Yako took back the Wicked God cards," explained Gekko. "Keith knocked him out and grabbed Eraser, but Yako has two of them. And now they're influencing him again."

Richie sighed. "I guess our arrest time just doubled, huh?" he asked, rubbing his fists.

. .

Masumi clutched his knuckles painfully as the elevator began to rise.

"Oh, finally," he muttered. "I can get to the next floor and seize the soul of whomever . . . what the heck?" he asked, as the doors opened to the night sky. He hadn't expected to reach the buildings apex. _Alright, seriously, isn't this where this whole mess started?_

He stepped out of the elevator, and the doors slammed shut behind him.

Masumi shrugged. "Well now, somebody stuffed up big time," he grinned.

"Tell me about it," agreed Willa Mette as he stepped out of the shadows and walked over to where Masumi was standing. "I mean, we keep an idiot in the elevator, laugh our heads off at him, and then bam! The boss gives the word to let him up here!"

"You think that's stupidity?" asked Masumi. "Try having that idiot Vince working with you, only winning because you give him the right deck, and then getting demolished when he gets too big for his boots."

"Yeah," replied Willa. "Things suck sometimes," he said. "Anyway, the boss said I need to duel you, and well, I'm not gonna argue with the boss." He raised his disk, and switched it to duelling mode. "So, shall we do this?" he asked.

"We shall," said Masumi, switching his own disk to duelling mode, the scythe-like card zone sliding into place with a lethal click.

The two drew their starting hands, staring each other down.

"I'm taking the first turn!" called Masumi. "I draw!" He drew with a flourish. "I summon Tellus the Little Angel in defence mode!" he called, and a squat angel with a large set of arms appeared. (500/500) "I also play a card facedown!" he added, and a card back hologram appeared. "That shall do."

"Yes it shall!" crowed Willa, drawing a card. "I'll summon this guy! Lancer Dragonute!" he called. A green humanoid dragon clutching a thick, elaborate spear appeared. (1500/1800) "Now attack!" called Willa, and the dragonute charged, shattering Tellus with a casual thrust.

Masumi shrugged. "I get a Tellus Wing Token when Tellus is destroyed in battle," he commented. A floating wing appeared in front of him. (0/0)

"And when Lancer Dragonute attacks, he deals damage through defence!" replied Willa.

"What?" asked Masumi as a backlash sliced across his chest, blowing his robes in the wind. He gave a yell of pain as his life points dropped to 3000.

"I'll equip my Mist Body to my Lancer Dragonute and end my turn," said Willa, sliding a card into his disk. A slight glow began to appear around Lancer Dragonute.

Masumi drew, looked at his card, and smiled. "Perfect. I may have taken damage, but now I know the colour and shade of your deck. The colour is dark, and the shade is draconic."

He threw a card onto his disk. "Making this the perfect offense!" he yelled. "I sacrifice the Tellus Wing Token to summon my Luminous Soldier!" he yelled. (2100/1400) A giant, bulky knight appeared in place of the vanished Wing Token.

"Go, my Soldier, attack Lancer Dragonute!" yelled Masumi. Luminous Soldier charged, its attack points increasing to 2600 as it sliced through Lancer Dragonute.

"Hey!" yelled Willa as his life points dropped down to 2900. "How did you Luminous Soldier just gain more attack points?"

"Because Luminous Soldier has a special ability that allows it to gain 500 attack points when it battles with a dark attribute monster, that's how," explained Masumi.

Willa grinned. "I guess it's a good thing that my Dragonute had a trick hidden up his sleeve too," he remarked. "Or haven't you noticed the lack of shattering?"

Masumi looked at the floating pieces of Lancer Dragonute in surprise as they turned white, and drew back together, until the image of a white Lancer Dragonute had appeared before him.

Willa laughed at Masumi's expression. "The Mist Body spell card prevents my monster from being destroyed in battle!" he laughed.

Masumi gave him an annoyed look. "Fine. I end my turn."

Willa held up a finger, closing his eyes. "Hey, before I continue on, can I ask you something?" he asked.

"You just did," said Masumi.

"Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean," said Willa. "But in all seriousness, what kind of cash did your boss offer you to take down Yako? I mean, you've got one heck of a chance of losing your soul in this building tonight. Dang, why are you even taking souls in the first place?"

Masumi gave him a long look. "I wouldn't expect someone like _you_ to understand our mission, but fine, I shall tell you," he replied. "I was not offered any cash prize, I simply told Vince and Dirk that to get some extra bodies for the job," he said. "I am doing this partly out of spite, to spite the King of Games for ruining me in a single short duel. Already my allies have brought despair to his puny existence. I also commit these necessary acts in order to revive the Great Leviathan, and to have it cleanse this world to rid it of the darkness of mankind! My fellows spouted that nonsense only because they were brainwashed, rather than belief, as I hold." He spread his arms wide. "Look at our world. It's sick, and it requires flushing of the illness that plagues it. And it is my responsibility to assist in this cleansing," he finished.

Willa nodded. "Thank you for your performance, we'll notify you whether you win an award or not," he said, tapping the headset that Masumi had only just noticed.

"_Are you kidding?" _asked the voice of Richie Merced. _"Are you kidding me?" _He paused and took a breath. _"This junk is why these dolts have stolen the soul of Master Pegasus, and from the sound of things, countless others?! Willa, wipe the floor please." _

He cut the link with a disgusted huff.

Masumi just stood there in disbelief for a few seconds. "He dares?" he asked angrily. "He dares to mock our foundations?"

Willa shrugged. "Hey, from the sound of it, I do believe that you're just plain nuts. Like, seriously, more nuts than Yako when he had his little problem after Pegasus disappeared the first time, you know what I mean?"

Masumi glared at Willa. "Stop joking around and carry out your turn," he said angrily.

"Oh yeah!" said Willa, snapping his fingers. He drew his card and looked it over. "I summon Axe Dragonute in attack mode!" he called. A black scaled humanoid dragon carrying a heavy battleaxe appeared in front of Willa with a roar. (2000/1200)

Masumi snorted. "Powerful that Dragonute may be, but even if he wasn't a dark attribute monster, he's still no match for my Luminous Soldier," he remarked, gesturing to his Soldier.

"You're right," agreed Willa, selecting a card. "One of my dragons isn't enough to take you down, but two sure are!" He slid a card into his disk. "I play the spell card, Union Attack!" he called. As the card appeared, he continued to explain. "This spell adds the attack points of my dragons together and lets them attack as one!" he called.

Masumi gritted his teeth as the two dragonutes (Total ATK: 3500) charged at Luminous Soldier, who raised its strength to 2600 in a futile attempt to save itself, but the two dragonutes cleaved through the Soldier and shattered it.

"Unfortunately, I don't deal any damage when I use Union Attack," admitted Willa. "But I think that's enough for now. Well, for the battles anyway." He selected another card. "I play the spell card, Heart of Clear Water!" he called. A gleaming teardrop appeared and settled into place around Axe Dragonute's neck. "This will prevent my Dragonute from being taken out by the effects of spells, traps, and monster cards," he explained, sliding another card into his disk. "I'll place one card facedown and end my turn."

Masumi struggled up from the previous attack. "That's it. You're going down," he snarled ferally.

Willa grinned. "Come and get me."

. .

Hazel Valentine rounded yet _another _corner of the corridors. She'd climbed a fair few floors now without any opposition, and worn down her nails to stubs with worry. _Two of us are down, and this is taking far too long!_, she thought. _If that coward Tenma doesn't come out of hiding soon . . . I suppose that I'll have to hide and lay low, hoping Dartz doesn't find me, and not run around like an idiot shouting- _

"Yako, let's duel!" yelled a voice that Hazel didn't know.

_I was thinking more along the lines of come and get me Dartz, but that works as well, I suppose_, thought Hazel in bewilderment.

She crept up a flight of stairs, peeking into a floor with a large space devoted to duelling, testing out the last technology sent in by KaibaCorp.

Two men stood there, practically identical in appearance, though one wore a pink coat over a t-shirt and white gloves, while another wore a heavy maroon coat and was bare-handed.

Both had activated duel disks, and were ready to draw their starting hands.

Hazel blinked. _Wait a sec, am I missing something here?!_, she thought in confusion as the Tenma twins continued to stare each other down.

**Ah, that felt good to just sit down and do some writing. Due to a lack of planning for my holidays and a need to spice variety into my days, I've got no idea when the next chapter will be up. To be honest, I haven't even written the next duel, especially as I only decided on this bit a few days ago.**

**So please rate and review, you know I like hearing from you all!**


	12. Saber's Edge Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**I feel pumped up-ish. Why? Because I am writing a duel that many people may have wanted to see: Yako vs. Gekko. These powerful twins will go head-to-head in an epic clash. They have met their match. It is an even fight, equal against equal – wait what? Of course it's not equal! One's psychotic and has two Wicked God cards, and the other has met his full potential!**

**Now, I can sit back and listen to all the discussion. **

**Oh yeah, and Willa's still dueling Masumi, but who cares about that eh? I DO.**

**Quick question: Who knows why I had Hazel use Heart of Clear Water on her Cyber Blader? C'mon, give it a shot.**

**General Krull: Hmm, isn't Krull an alien race in some media or something? As for your question, you must know my mother, getting me to study for Physics before doing it this summer . . . But seriously, do you know what Willa even looks like? **

**K5Rakitan: Yeah, although we can just do what Willa did and dismiss them. It annoys them to no end. Then again, look what's happened so far.**

**Kicking Cherries: Thank you. And that last bit has **_**got **_**to be some kind of innuendo. **

_Saber's Edge! Part 2_

Willa fearlessly stood facing Masumi, as the Store Breaker seethed.

When other people lost it (usually due to Willa's input), Willa remained calm, and this situation was no different.

Masumi managed to calm himself down a little. "It's my turn now," he said, drawing a card from the blue disk he wore. He breathed heavily as he looked at the card and chuckled. "Perfect," he said. "I summon Consecrated Light in attack mode!"

What was possibly the strangest monster that Willa had ever seen appeared in front of Masumi in a swirl of light. It was a sphere with a magenta sheen, with a small smile and tiny eyes. (0/0)

"Tell me you're kidding," said Willa.

Masumi smiled. "I'm not," he replied. "That's all."

Willa gave him an odd look, and drew his next card. "I'm up, then!" he called. He looked at his draw. _Sweet. I can bring out a stronger dragon now. But first I'll just make sure that I'm still protected._ He pointed at Consecrated Light. "Axe Dragonute, attack Consecrated Light!" he called.

Axe Dragonute moved to attack – and it struggled. Strands of light had wrapped around its wrists, preventing it from moving.

"Hey, what the heck?" protested Willa. "Why can't my Dragonute attack?"

Masumi grinned. "Darkness has no business in the presence of Consecrated Light. All dark attribute monsters – like your Dragonutes – cannot attack. And even if they could, Consecrated Light cannot be destroyed by the attacks of dark monsters, nor would I suffer the excess damage from the battle."

"What?" protested Willa. _Dang it. My deck is mostly made up of dark attribute monsters. I don't have any other attributes of monster in my hand, but maybe I can think of something. _His eyes lit up. "I'm going to summon my Vice Dragon by sacrificing my Axe Dragonute," he announced.

"Vice Dragon," remarked Masumi. "Dark attribute, is it not?" He grinned. "I'm afraid that's out of the question," he said. "While Consecrated Light is on the field, neither player can summon a dark attribute monster. "It's fine for me, I don't have any. But your deck has quite the number, does it not?" He chuckled. "Including your ace monster, your White-Horned Dragon."

Willa gasped. _I can't summon my White-Horned Dragon?_, he thought in horror.

"This is the last duel you'll ever fight!" laughed Masumi.

. .

Gekko watched Yako as he drew his sixth card and added it to his hand. "I'll begin with Learning Elf in defence mode," he said. A bespectacled elf maiden holding a tome appeared, kneeling. (1400/1500) "Then I shall place one card facedown," he said. "That ends my turn." The backed hologram appeared between him and Learning Elf.

Yako drew viciously. "I'll get you out of the way and then tear down those fools who dared to take the soul of Master Pegasus!" he snarled.

Hiding in the stairwell, Hazel trembled, and thanked her lucky stars that she was behind him, so that he wouldn't see her by accident. She settled into a more comfortable position and continued to watch the duel.

Yako selected a card. "I summon Seraphim Saber in attack mode!" he yelled, slapping the card onto his disk. An angel dressed in shining white armour and a blue cloak in a contrast not unlike Masumi's robe appeared, clutching a shining sword. (1600/1500)

"Seraphim Saber, attack Learning Elf!" yelled Yako. The angel darted forward, and sliced the elf in half.

Gekko drew. "Learning Elf's special ability allows me to draw another card," he said. "I'll also use Call of the Haunted to return Learning Elf to the field in attack mode," he said. The card flipped up, and Learning Elf rose up again.

Yako scowled at Gekko. "I end my turn," he said.

Gekko frowned. "My turn," he said, drawing his next card, bringing him back up to six. "I summon Gemini Elf," he said. A pair of elf maidens appeared, one blonde and wearing a shiny blue dress and gloves, the other brown haired and bare-armed, clad in a shorter purple dress. (1900/900)

Gekko pointed his hand at Yako, keeping his cards hidden from view. For a moment he could swear that he saw movement out of the corner of his eye by the stairwell, but he dismissed it to focus on the more pressing matter. "Gemini Elf, attack Seraphim Saber!" he called. The two elves darted forward and lashed out with powerful kicks, shattering Seraphim Saber.

Yako scowled as his life points dropped to 3700.

"I'm not finished!" added Gekko. "Learning Elf, direct attack!" he called.

The bespectacled elf maiden charged, slamming her tome down on Yako.

Clutching his chest, Yako staggered back as his life points dropped to 2300.

Gekko slid two cards into his disk. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn," he said, and the two backed holograms appeared in quick succession. He gave Yako a condescending look. "Time out now, brother," he said. "I'm not going to duel you while you're like this."

. .

Willa looked over his hand as Masumi continued to laugh. "Had enough yet, Willa?" he asked. "Will you surrender and let the Great Beast drink your soul?"

"Fat chance," said Willa. "I equip my Axe Dragonute with Synchronic Ability," he said. "Now it gains the effects and equip spell bonuses of _every_ dragon on the field. Let's see you get past that."

Mist began to curl around Axe Dragonute.

Masumi snorted. "We could do this all day, but I have a deadline." He drew his card and grinned. Then he burst out in mad laughter.

Before Willa could ask what was going on, Masumi placed the card into the field spell zone of his disk, and the Seal of Orichalcos expanded in his head, that of Consecrated Light, and around the two duelists.

. .

"What are you talking about, Gekko?" asked Yako dangerously.

"I'm talking about your current state of mind, Yako!" yelled Gekko angrily.

This alone caused Yako to flinch in surprise – Gekko never shouted.

Gekko continued. "I thought a duel – a chance for you to demonstrate your strength – would settle you down. But if anything, you're worse than you were before. You left yourself wide open to that last attack, so unless you had the worst hand of the century, this is obviously affecting your dueling skills. If this goes on, I'll probably win again." He took a deep breath and continued. "Do you know why? Because this time, nothing has changed. The Wicked Gods brought you back to a past that you'd moved on from Yako." He looked at Yako sadly, and he could see the black smoke curling around his brother. "Don't let your hatred be the end of you. The end of us."

Yako, eyes twitching, looked at Gekko in shock.

_Don't listen to him, Yako_, whispered his double.

Yako clutched his head. _No. I won't be controlled – I won't! _

He gave a cry of pain, and dispelled the influence as it continued to whisper.

Yako gripped his next card. "Let's finish this, Gekko. I need to let off some steam."

Gekko looked at his brother in concern, but Yako gave him a wink. Gekko grinned. "Let's make this a match to remember," he said.

"_Guys!"_ yelled Richie from the control room. _"I hate to break it to you, but this _really _isn't the time for this."_

"Won't take long," said Yako, drawing.

"_Dang it!" _yelled Richie.

. .

Willa shielded his eyes from the unearthly green light. "Oh come on!" he yelled. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Masumi just stood there, eyes glowing red, and the Seal glowing in his forehead. "As I was saying," he said. "I believe that you can't stall for time. First, I play Barrier Statue of the Heavens," he said. (1000/1000) A glowing marble statue of an angel appeared, only to be perverted by the Seal that glowed in its forehead. "Now the only monsters that can be summoned through special means are light attribute monsters," explained Masumi.

"Oh, the irony," muttered Willa.

"I place a card facedown, and activate the Wave-Motion Cannon spell card," said Masumi. The back hologram appeared, and then a giant energy cannon appeared beside it. "Each of my turns, this cannon charges 1000 points of damage," explained Masumi.

"Say what?" asked Willa.

"Your turn now," said Masumi.

"You'll regret this," muttered Willa. "And check this out!" he laughed. "Say bye-bye to you restrictions, because I play Dark Hole!" He laughed as a black hole appeared on the field and sucked every monster on it away. "That's all I've got, but it'll do."

Masumi didn't seem perturbed – though he _did_ have two facedown cards, plus his Cannon. He drew his card. "I think I'll have my Cannon fire now," he said. The giant cannon fired a blast of lightning at Willa, and Willa screamed in pain as he dropped to his knees and his life points dropped to 1900.

"Okay, not that I'm complaining, but why'd you sacrifice your cannon _now_ of all times?" asked Willa.

Masumi's grin was very unsettling. "Because it doesn't matter whether I sacrifice it now or next turn. I've already won this."

"Baloney!" yelled Willa.

"I summon Divine Dragon Ragnarok!" yelled Masumi.

A majestic lung dragon composed of white energy rose up in front of Masumi. (1500/1000)

"Oh man, are you serious?" asked Willa as it rose to 2000 attack points. _I didn't think that he had something _that_ strong in his hand._

"Attack this uneducated fool directly!" called Masumi. The dragon opened its mouth – and Willa flipped his facedown card.

"Not so fast! I play the trap card Yellow Alert!" he called. "Now I defend myself with a defence monster from my hand!" he called. "I'm sure you remember Vice Dragon, right?"

A large purple dragon with a massive head and green wing membranes appeared with a colossal roar. (2000/2400) It swung its fist and dispelled the energy of Divine Dragon Ragnarok's attack.

Masumi felt the backlash from the attack as his life points dropped to 2600.

"Course, it doesn't stick around though," admitted Willa. Vice Dragon roared, and vanished. Willa plucked the card off his disk.

"Take your turn," said Masumi, setting a card.

"Alright!" yelled Willa as he drew. _Oh thank you_, he whispered in his head as he looked at the card. "First, by halving his attack and defence points, Vice Dragon returns without having the need for a sacrifice!" The purple dragon appeared again with a roar. "Course, he won't be sticking around long," he admitted. "Because I'm sacrificing him for my _White-Horned Dragon!_" he yelled.

Vice Dragon vanished, and a giant red dragon rivalling the Blue-Eyes in size appeared above Willa. It looked similar to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, but instead of the crest of six spikes that the Red-Eyes bore, it had a pure white horn on its head. (2200/1400)

"When this mighty creature rises, he removes up to five spells from your graveyard, and gains 300 attack points for each one!" crowed Willa. The dragon's horn glowed and it roared as its attack points rose to 2500. Willa pointed at Divine Dragon Ragnarok. "All right! White-Horned Dragon, strike down his monster with Horn Beam Buster!" he yelled.

Horn still glowing, White-Horned Dragon blasted a ball of white fire at Masumi's monster.

"I activate my three trap cards in turn!" called Masumi. "First is Refracting Prism, which splits my monster into two, with half the points of the original!"

Divine Dragon Ragnarok glowed, and then split into two smaller copies. (1000/500)

"Next is Astral Shift, which will make your attack into a direct attack – and then I draw another card!" continued Masumi. He gave a yell of pain as the ball of flame struck him, blasting him back into the Seal of Orichalcos, and dropping him to the ground, while his life points fell to 100.

"Finally, the trap card Annihilating Light will destroy all the monsters on the field during the end of the turn!" groaned Masumi.

Willa gritted his teeth. "Fine," he said. "I end my turn." He looked at his White-Horned Dragon. Beams of light seared through it, shattering his dragon, along with the Divine Dragon Ragnarok copies.

Then, a horrifying monster made of marble rose up. Though it was designed to be majestic and calming, appearing in the guise of an angel, its appearance struck fear into Willa. (2800/2500) The Seal glowed in its head, raising it to 3300 attack points.

"No," he said in shock. "Not that thing!"

"I assume you know, then, that when Tualatin is summoned, it banishes one attribute of monster from the field," remarked Masumi. "I select dark. Not that it matters." He laughed. "Your soul is mine!"

_Sorry guys_, thought Willa. He stood tall, and looked at Tualatin.

"My turn!" called Masumi. "The last turn." He drew and pointed. "Finish him off!" he yelled.

Tualatin blasted Willa with a torrent of light. Willa collapsed, life points at zero, and Richie could only watch in shock from the control room as the Seal closed around him.

Masumi laughed as the Seal faded. "Another soul to the Great Beast," he said gleefully. He rudely kicked Willa's empty shell. "Have fun," he said, before heading to the stairwell.

**Ass.**

**Isn't he? You know I'm right. I've never liked Masumi, so that's why he's working for Doma, and believing in their ideals.**

**Just so that you know, the Store Breakers aren't original characters, they appeared in the special volume of Yu-Gi-Oh! R, which I also novelised. Not that you'd want to really read about them. They are complete and total EEF's.**

**Anyway, please review guys!**


	13. Saber's Edge Part 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos **

**Morning everybody. More importantly, Merry Christmas! I know that this will be early for most of you guys, but we live in New Zealand, so our time is earlier than most of you by quite a bit.**

**Writing about something depressing like this is the last thing that I want to do for Christmas, but as people enjoy this, it shouldn't depress anyone. I hope. Please don't be depressed!**

**You guys are all just great; you do know that, right?**

**K5Rakitan: That was the intention. I don't like people like that in real life either, and would happily clobber them over the head. But Masumi's going to be around for a while I'm afraid.**

_The Hanging Edge_

"I play Monster Reborn!" called Yako, slotting a card into his disk. "And I'll use it to bring back my Seraphim Saber from the graveyard!"

The angelic swordsman appeared from a portal in the ground, eyes closed serenely.

"Next I'll also summon Seraphim Blaster!" added Yako, and another blue and white robed angel with twin barrels of celestial bronze replacing its arms appeared. (1800/1200)

"Each Seraphim now gains 200 attack points for every other Seraphim on the field!" said Yako, and Blaster went up to 2000 attack points, while Saber increased to 1800 attack points.

"Seraphim!" called Yako. "Attack Gekko's elves!"

Blaster charged, and burned through the Gemini Elves with one blast of holy light, and Saber split Learning Elf in half – again.

Gekko shielded himself as his life points dropped to 3400 from the attacks. "Learning Elf allows me to draw another card," he reminded Yako, drawing. "That's more like it, Yako," he said.

"I lay a card facedown, and end my turn," said Yako, sliding a card into his disk.

"My move," said Gekko, drawing. "I need to finish this quickly, Yako. Everyone left in this tower is still in danger." He selected his card, and flipped it around.

Yako could see a white angelic being, and realised what Gekko was playing.

"Even the Wicked God cards are helpless against this monster, Yako," said Gekko.

"You have no monsters," pointed out Yako. "This I must see."

Gekko touched a button on his disk. "First I activate my facedown card, Celestial Transformation to summon a fairy monster from my hand and halve its strength," he said. "I summon Dancing Elf from my hand!"

A blond winged elf in a green dress appeared in front of Gekko. (300/200) Its attack and defence points fell to 150 and 100 respectively.

"Then I equip it with Spirit Slayer," added Gekko, and the double bladed sword appeared in the elf's hands – though she could barely lift it, and her attack points only went up to 650.

"I play Sacrifice of Grave Goods," continued Gekko. "Now I can treat a monster equipped with and equip card as two sacrifices for a summoning!" He held up his next card. "I sacrifice my Dancing Elf and Spirit Slayer to summon Angel O7!" he called.

The elf vanished in a flash of light, and in its place appeared a statue of white marble, brought to life by the amethyst in its forehead, and its glowing eyes. It bore no visible limbs, though it had arm-like wings. (2500/1500)

"The effect of Angel O7 prevents the activation of effect monster's effects!" declared Gekko. "Angel O7, attack Seraphim Saber!"

Angel O7 fired a beam of light at the angelic swordsman, shattering it.

Yako groaned as his life points fell to 1600.

"_Dang it guys, this is really not the time!"_ yelled Richie over the intercom.

Sitting in the stairwell, Hazel realised where she could find Richie – and possibly Masumi. It was a long shot, but she was pretty sure that Masumi wanted to clean up before taking on the Tenma brothers.

It was a good idea, so she crept down the stairwell, and headed for the next corridor.

. .

Yako panted from Angel O7's attack. "Is that all, Gekko?" he asked.

"I play one card facedown and end my turn," said Gekko, setting the last card in his hand into his disk.

"I draw!" declared Yako. "I activate my facedown Photon Lead spell card, and I summon Daybreaker from my hand!" he called. A white armoured knight with a red cape and a sword for its right hand appeared. (1700/0) "This allows me to summon another Daybreaker from my hand!" added Yako, and a second knight appeared. "I now sacrifice all three monsters!" he called.

"No Yako!" yelled Gekko and Richie in unison.

"To summon the Wicked Dreadroot!" yelled Yako, slamming the card into his disk with a crash of red lightning.

Blasts of red lightning erupted from behind Yako, forking past the twins so close that Gekko could smell the ozone. Amidst the lightning storm, a gigantic aqua skinned giant arose, bone rimming its thighs, forearms, pectorals, shoulders and wings, and surrounding its fiendish face in the fearsome visage of a gaping ram skull. (4000/4000)

"What are you doing, Yako!" yelled Gekko.

Yako grimaced as the Wicked God monster towered behind him. "Gekko," he said. "Let's end this."

He raised his hand and placed it on top of his disk. "This is not the time. Richie's right." He smiled as the holograms disappeared. "We have bigger problems. And we can talk about them now that our eavesdropper has left.

. .

Masumi strode down the corridor towards the security booth, full of confidence after trouncing Willa. He deftly switched cards from one deck to the next as he thought about his next foe.

Richie Merced had beaten Gekko Tenma handily, and though he stated it was only due to Gekko's haste, it was clear that he was a force to be reckoned with.

But Gekko had stumbled on the weakness of his deck, and so of course, had Masumi.

He smiled at the deck he'd built and slid it into his duel disk.

_Now, card professor, bring out whatever you have in that little deck of yours, and I'll match it with ease._

There was a bump and a yelp, and Masumi brushed off his robes as he looked at Hazel.

"And just where have you been all this time?" he asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I took out two of them at once!" protested Hazel, picking herself up and dusting herself off, angry that Masumi hadn't given her a hand up. "From what I heard, all you've done is get stuck in an elevator and raged at the guy operating it!"

. .

"Hazel Valentine," muttered Gekko as he typed in some information into the database. Screens of dueling articles and information were arrayed around a monitor. "Took part in Duelist Kingdom – sounds like our friend Keith beat her to the castle when he muscled his way in, that'll have caused a bit of a grudge, and lives with her parents. Disappeared a few weeks back, band after initially sounding panicked when she rang our old friend Miss Gardner, she stated that she was fine."

"That must have been when they got their hooks in her," said Yako thoughtfully. "The other one?"

"Masumi Monomo," said Gekko. "He's a nasty piece of work – known as the duelist who carries a hundred decks. Anti-meta decks for every situation, as long as he has the info about the duelist, of course. Headed up a small gang called the Store Breakers, it shouldn't be any surprise who the other members are. They took over game shops and shut them down until they made the mistake of trying to steal the Egyptian God cards. Yugi made short work of Masumi, and they turned themselves in. They disappeared about a month ago, and seeing as Paradius have been targeting Yugi, these guys were obviously prime targets for fodder."

"So it _is_ Paradius that's behind this," remarked Yako. "They've been buying most of or stock, and they've been doing the same to KaibaCorp. "I heard that Kaiba went to Duelist Kingdom to see Master Pegasus."

"Kaiba probably found something else, but I'm sure he'll be fine," said Gekko dismissively.

"Wait, what is that?" asked Yako, pointing at the corner of the screen.

Gekko expanded the article, and his blood froze as he read the title.

**FAMOUS DUEL MONSTERS GOD CARDS STOLEN FROM GAME SHOP**

"Yugi's Egyptian God cards," whispered Yako. "Did the Store Breakers take them?"

Gekko scanned the text. "Says it was a motorcycle gang, but whoever it was, they were all working for the same people."

"Paradius," said Yako venomously.

"Yes," said Gekko. "They must be trying to take the Wicked God cards for the same purpose that they took the Egyptian God cards."

"Then they've bitten off more than they can chew trying to take the Wicked Gods," said Yako. He turned to his brother. "Gekko, there's something I'm going to ask you to do. You're not going to like it."

**What is it? What is it? **

**You'll have to wait and see. And yes, I do know for once what it is, I'm not that helpless.**

**It's good to see Dreadroot in action again.**

**Please review, everyone, and Merry Christmas once again!**


	14. Face it Later

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**Viva la Vida! Summer school is over, and I'm free!...for about two weeks. Then I have to dive back into university again. But I'll make the most of this. I still have to write the duels for the rest of this fic, polish it off and focus on other works.**

**I make two dedications for this chapter. **

**The first isn't really a dedication, but a request from me – author GearfriedTheSynchro is currently writing a story called New Beginnings. I'm spreading the word, give it a look, it features some decent duelling, and quite the good protagonist. Yeah, you can tell that I haven't advertised before. But seriously, give a look, and don't let this next part distract you from remembering.**

**Secondly, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Kicking Cherries, who reviewed this story with great enthusiasm, and was an excellent friend. Chezza's departed fanfiction now unfortunately, but I hope she still reads this humble fic. **

**K5Rakitan: Thanks. Hope you're continuing to enjoy this, despite my…lack of updates.**

**So where were we? Oh yes.**

_Face it Later_

Masumi Monomo sprinted down the hall, with Hazel Valentine close on his heels. As they swivelled around a corner at high speed Hazel raised her voice to make sure that she was heard.

"So, why are we running?" she called, feeling sweat begin to bead on her forehead.

"The security centre is only occupied by Richie Merced now," said Masumi. "After we've taken him out, we can take control of the entire building. No more running around after Tenma. We'll make him run to us!" he said gleefully.

Not for the first time, Hazel wondered if being teamed with Masumi was a good idea.

. .

Yako tapped a few keys, flicking through the surveillance footage that Richie was sending him. He was looking for the other occupants of the building, but so far he'd only found soulless bodies.

The number of people that had fallen saddened Yako. _Deschutes, Pete, Cino, Klamath, Dixon, Banias,_ he thought. _Even Depre and Willa._ His face tightened as he saw another image, Tilla and Reiko lying comatose on a couch. _They did what I asked them – or paid them to do. And they suffered for it._

His face lightened as he found what he was looking for – an image of Bandit Keith in the northern stairwell. He tapped his earpiece. "Gekko?" he asked.

"_Loud and clear Yako,"_ replied his twin.

"I've found Keith on the northern stair, but I'm not sure where, the image is a bit old. Head for there would you? I'll try getting some updates from Richie." He switched frequencies. "Richie, can you find images from the north stairs?" he asked.

There was no response.

"Richie?" asked Yako, ice creeping through his body.

. .

Masumi triumphantly threw open the door to the security center – and received a shoulder to the stomach, courtesy of Richie Merced.

Hazel stepped neatly aside as Masumi went flying past her and crashed into the opposite wall. "Really, was that necessary?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Very," replied Richie, rubbing his hands together. "Let's see…first you take the souls of most of the people in this building, then you state that you're going to use them to destroy the world as we know it. You're going down, and as easy as it would be to simply throw you off the building, I think I'd prefer something less messy."

With that, Richie pulled out his duel disk, and slid it onto his arm. "You can just take your leave now girl," he said. "You're just not right, not there, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you even care about this idiotic cause?" He pointed at Masumi. "He's the one I want. He took Depre and Willa out of this world, and I'm going to return the favour."

Masumi picked himself up. "That…hurt," he said in surprise.

"If it didn't, then I need to work out some more," remarked Richie dryly.

Masumi deployed the scythe of his duel disk. "I'll pay you back with twice the pain!" he hissed. "Let's do this!"

Both duelists drew their five card hands with a flourish.

. .

"Richie! Richie, no!" yelled Yako into the headset.

When he didn't get an answer, he plugged it into the battery pack, grabbed his deck and slotted it into his disk, and ran for the door.

"Gekko!" he called into the headset.

"What is it?" asked Gekko calmly.

"Find Keith, and get up to the security center, quickly!" ordered Yako. "Richie's in trouble!"

. .

Richie inclined his head towards Masumi. "You can have the first move," he said.

"How generous," remarked Masumi, voice positively dripping with sarcasm. He drew his sixth card coolly. "First I place a monster in defence mode," he said, and the backed Hologram appeared. "I'll also play the Card Trader spell card," he added, and a card with the image of a large man in a suit and cloak appeared. "Now I can shuffle a card into my deck each turn, and then draw another."

He slid a card onto his deck, shuffled it, and drew again.

_Trying to go for the Seal of Orichalcos, are you?_, thought Richie.

Masumi slid the card he'd drawn into his disk. "I end my turn with a facedown card."

"Took you long enough," remarked Richie, drawing. He slid his card into his disk. "I summon Twin Gunfighter!" he called.

A man clad in maroon western fatigues with a plumed hat and twin large pistols appeared. (1600/1000)

"Twin Gunfighter, take aim and fire!" laughed Richie.

The gunslinger fired two shots, one shattering the defence monster, Consecrated Light, and the other slamming into Masumi.

Masumi smiled as his life points decreased to 3000. "Your Gunfighter won't be taking _my_ life points," he smiled. "The trap card Skill Drain negates the effects of all monsters on the field at a cost of 1000 life points!" he crowed.

Richie gritted his teeth and growled. _Ah nuts. If that's true, I'm gonna have to rely on my trap cards to stop this guy. And seeing how ahead he's been so far, he can probably counter them too!_ He slid two cards into his disk. "I play two cards face down and end my turn."

Masumi laughed as he drew. "I have you right where I want you now," he said. "I use Card Trader's effect again!" he said, shuffling and drawing. "I play a facedown card, and I summon Zeradias, Herald of Heaven!" (2100/800)

A red faced, white skinned angel with green wings appeared. A green helmet and green bracers armoured his body, while blue pants held up by a red sash clothed him. He clutched a twin bladed weapon.

"Normally, he would be destroyed as I don't control the right field spell," chuckled Masumi. "But Skill Drain prevents that!" He grinned. "Zeradias, attack his Gunfighter!" called the Store-Breaker.

Zeradias charged, lancing through Twin Gunfighter. Richie shielded himself from the backlash as his life points dropped to 3500.

"I end my turn on that note," said Masumi.

_Oh come on_, thought Richie. He drew and his face lightened up. _Gotcha._ He slid a card into his disk. "I play a facedown card, and I summon Fuse Ray Blaster in attack mode!" (1600/800)

A small figure in a dusty poncho appeared, clutching a musket.

"I'm done for now," said Richie. **2**

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to attack you when you have three facedown cards?" asked Masumi, drawing. "I summon Giant Orc!" he called. A blue skinned orc clutching a bone club appeared. (2200/0) "Then I use Card Trader's effect again!" He shuffled a card into his deck and drew. "Where is it?!" he seethed.

Richie chuckled. _Then again, things might be looking up._

"I play Graceful Charity!" hissed Masumi. "I draw three cards and discard two!" He drew three times, and slid two cards into the graveyard. "I activate the spell card Monster Reborn to revive Rare Metal Dragon!" he snarled. A gray skinned wingless dragon with a small nose horn appeared with a snarl. (2400/1200)

"Rare Metal Dragon attack!" yelled Masumi.

"And that's my cue!" said Willa. "Go, Magic Cylinder!"

The twin cylinders appeared, and the blast of light that Rare Metal Dragon fired disappeared into one, and blasted out of the other, smashing into Masumi and dropping him to 600 life points.

Masumi howled. "I will trap your soul in darkness!" he screamed.

Hazel and Richie both sweatdropped.

"Whatever, pal," said Richie.

"Zeradias, attack!" yelled Masumi. The angel charged and sliced through Fuse Ray Blaster, dropping Richie to 3000 life points.

"Giant Orc, beat him down!" yelled Masumi.

Richie reacted. "Go, Dazzling Radiance!" he called. "Your monsters now lash out at each other!" he called as a bright light blinded the group. "Rare Metal Dragon, defend yourself!" he called. "And with Grazing Blast…" he added. "We each take damage equal to the power of our opponents monsters attack points!"

_I'll survive_, thought Richie. _But this nutter's going down, unless_…

"I activate the Trap Jammer trap card!" yelled Masumi.

_Oh, the irony…_, thought Richie.

The dragon sliced into Giant Orc, knocking him to the floor and shattering him. Masumi growled as his life points dropped to 400.

Richie drew and groaned. _About the only thing I can do is wait and hope that he doesn't draw the Seal now…_

"I summon one monster in defence mode," he said heavily. Then I end my turn with a facedown card."

Masumi drew and cackled. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" he screamed, placing the card into its slot. He screamed again as the Seal expanded and fizzled.

For a moment, Richie thought that the security system wouldn't be able to fit the Seal in, but it stopped just shy of the walls.

_On the other hand,_ he thought. _This _does_ prevent Miss Valentine from prematurely mucking around in here. Not to mention it buys time for the cavalry to get here._

"Zeradias!" screamed Masumi, the Seal glowing in his forehead. "Smash down that monster!"

Another Fuse Ray Blaster appeared and shattered under the Herald's spear.

"Rare Metal Dragon, direct attack!" yelled Masumi. The dragon fired a beam of light at Richie.

"And Draining Shield!" called Richie. A bubbled of energy absorbed the attack, raising Richie to 5900 life points.

"I end my turn!" raged Masumi.

Hazel watched, worried. Masumi was degenerating quite quickly – too quickly. This whole affair had become a giant mess – two of their number was soulless, and none of the Tenma twins were.

Then she saw a camera image a dozen corridors back. One of the Tenma brothers – Gekko she thought – was walking beside Bandit Keith, with the latter's arm draped over his shoulder.

She growled. "Finish him off now, Masumi!" she yelled. "Tenma's on his way!"

"It's my turn in case you hadn't noticed," said Richie quietly. He looked at them. "Take your best shot."

Masumi drew. "Finally," he muttered. I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" he called. A diamond dragon appeared. (2000/100 – 2500/100)

Richie nodded. _Master Pegasus…_, he thought. _I'll see you again. And Depre…my brother._

He barely heard Masumi's command as he looked up into the face of the three attacks. The combination of twin light blasts and a hurled spear seemed so slow as it rushed towards him.

Soon, very soon now…

**I think I may have got quite sappy with Richie there. The duel wasn't the best, mainly because I lost the initial script in my anthropology notes at some point. I did this off the top of my head.**

**Anyway, for those of you who are wondering what the heck is up with Masumi's deck, he plays anti decks, designed to counter his opponents depending on what they use. That's why they vary.**

**Not much to say, I'm just starting to script the next duel, and boy is it a big one. I'm really going to enjoy, and I hope you guys do too.**

**And don't forget, check out Gearfried's story!**

**Please review too.**


	15. Defiers of Fate Part 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**I am motivated! Not only that, we're getting into the good stuff. This is the way the world ends. **

**Not really, I'm just running out of stuff to say. But while I'm at it…GO THE BLUES! **

**Most of you won't know what I'm talking about unless you follow rugby. And then you have to follow Super Rugby.**

**K5Rakitan: I didn't realize that I'd gotten so dramatic. Must have been that last chapter for my Halo fic that did it…**

**GearfriedTheSynchro: Yeah, there's always a period where I have to stop this, lest I get too distracted. Don't worry, the Tenma brothers are **_**definitely **_**going to step up their game. All good as well bro, take your time.**

_Defiers of Fate Part 1_

Masumi laughed insanely as the three attacks struck Richie head-on, hurling the number one card professor into the green dome of the Seal of Orichalcos.

Richie felt his strength drain as his life points hit zero. He started laughing as well, much to Hazel's surprise.

"It is kind of funny, isn't it?" laughed Masumi.

"I'm laughing at something else," chuckled Richie.

"What?" asked Masumi flatly, the colour draining from his face.

"Remember the guys who took out the other guys? In about five minutes, Gekko and Keith will get here, and both of you will certainly be going down," he chuckled. "I'd say that your biggest mistake was your complete and utter failure at finishing them off quickly. That or joining up with Paradius."

"_I will destroy you!" _screamed Masumi.

"Whatever," remarked Richie, as the Seal closed around him.

. .

Yako tapped his headset again. "Richie?" he asked.

Still no reply.

_Darn it_, Yako thought. He hurried down the corridor. _Gekko, it's up to you now._

. .

"Why aren't those two dolts responding?" raged Masumi. Then he realized what Richie had meant. "Oh, they're soulless. _Why are they soulless!?"_

Hazel crossed the room, ignoring Richie's soulless body, and Masumi's raging. She sat down at the console and tapped a few keys. After a couple of seconds, red text popped up on the screen.

"This computer's encrypted," she muttered before brightening up. "Good thing Master Dartz got Alister to show me a few pointers though!"

Hazel entered a few codes, and quickly overrode the system.

"That was easy," she remarked. "Tenma's heading up to the top to where you duelled Willa Mette. Sheesh, we could have taken the helicopter in if we'd known he'd do that."

"Yako?" asked Masumi.

"Yes," she replied.

"They're twins, so how do you know?" asked Masumi.

"Because I'm standing right here," said a cool voice from behind the two of them.

Masumi whirled around.

Clad in maroon leather coat, and with his duel disk at the ready, Gekko Tenma stood in the doorway.

"You two had better bring everything that you've got at me," warned Gekko. "I'm no pushover. Not like everyone else you've faced."

"You're taking us both on?" asked Masumi. "Alone?" He snickered. "You have no chance."

"Heck no," said another voice. "Not alone."

Still staggering, Bandit Keith walked out of the shadows.

"I've been taking my whole life," remarked the disgraced card professor. "Now it's time to give back."

"We'll take you on in a tag-team duel," said Gekko. "For the purposes of card effects, you can treat a player as an opponent. No-one attacks on their first turn."

"Fastest drawer wins," remarked Keith.

"Let's duel!" they all cried, drawing their five card hands.

. .

Inside his temple, Dartz smiled.

"It won't be long now, Great Leviathan," he said. "Your hunger shall be sated."

. .

Bandit Keith grinned as he held up his five cards. "Hah! Looks like I get the first draw!" he crowed. "He drew, and slapped the card into his disk. "I summon Engine Shell in defence mode!" he called. (1300/1800) The engine with twin hemispheres attached appeared, whirring. "Next I'll place these two cards facedown, and with that out of the way, my turn's over!" He chuckled, and pushed his sunglasses up.

_Do Americans _always _wear sunglasses?_, wondered Hazel incredulously. She drew rather lazily. "I'll summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode," she said. (1200/1600) Hazel's blue-skinned, red-clad dancer appeared with a twirl. "I think I'll also play two facedown cards," she mused, slotting them into the scythe of the disk. "That ends my turn!"

Gekko drew with a smooth flourish. "I summon Summoner Monk in defence mode!" he said, placing the card horizontally on his disk. A purple and white robed monk appeared, crouching. (800/1600)

"Once per turn I can discard a spell card to summon a four star monster from my deck!" added Gekko, discarding a card. "So I discard Spirit Slayer and I summon Learning Elf in defence mode!" He searched his deck, and placed the card he wanted beside that of Summoner Monk. Gekko's elf maiden appeared, clutching her tome. (1400/1500) "I'll also place two cards face down," said Gekko, slotting them in. The twin card holograms appeared, one after the other.

Masumi drew. "Now commences the beginning of your end. After I'm finished with you, you'll be serving the cause of the Great Beast." He slid a card into his disk, and placed one horizontally. "I place one card face down and I set a monster in defence mode."

A backed hologram appeared sideways, with another behind it. "That shall be all," said Masumi.

Bandit Keith laughed. "What'd you say?" he asked mockingly. "The beginning of _our_ end? Pah. You're going down, and I have the first attack!" He drew causally, and chuckled nastily. "I sacrifice my Engine Shell to summon my Engine Violence!" he called.

Engine Shell vanished, and in its place appeared a hot-rod engine with twin cannon arms and legs attached. (2100/1200)

"Next I equip my Engine Violence with Engine Tuner!" added Keith, sliding a spell into his disk. "This boosts its attack points by half its defence points, giving him a grand total of 2700 attack points!" he laughed.

A crew of tiny green goblins swarmed over Engine Violence, tightening joints and screws. Engine Violence glowed as its attack points rose.

"Go get that petty thief!" yelled Keith. "Engine Violence, blast that facedown!" The machine opened fire, blasting gouts of flame at the card.

A smooth, pink sphere was revealed, the flame bounced off it, and Keith looked at it in shock.

"What?" he protested. "That thing doesn't have any defence points!"

"Consecrated Light cannot be destroyed by dark attribute monsters," said Masumi gleefully. "Nor can you summon a dark monster while its presence graces our field."

Gekko winced as Keith spluttered. _That's not good. Most of Keith's deck is dark attribute machine monsters. I need to get rid of that monster before that can matter._

"Ah fine! My turn's over!" growled Keith angrily.

Hazel drew. _My favourite monster!_, she thought. "I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode!" she called.

The pink-haired ballerina appeared and struck a pose. (1000/800)

Hazel frowned. "You're lucky that you've got the weak Monk out there Gekko. My Cyber Tutu can only attack a player directly if their monsters have more attack points than her." She pointed at Keith. "You on the other hand, you filthy hypocrite, you're wide open for Tutu. Now Cyber Tutu, attack Keith directly with Pounding Pirouette!"

Cyber Tutu charged and lashed out with a kick, knocking the breath out of the card professor. His life points decreased to 3000.

Hazel frowned. "I can't do much now. I switch Etoile Cyber to defence mode," she said, turning the card. The dancer crouched down. "That ends my turn."

"My turn!" said Gekko. He drew, added the card to his hand, and discarded another card. "I use my Summoner Monk's effect, discarding a spell card to summon Thoroughbred Elf from my deck!" (1800/1500) A muscular elf with shoulder-length blonde hair appeared. "Next I switch Learning Elf to attack mode, and equip her with Fighting Spirit!" added Gekko, slotting the card into his disk. "Learning Elf gains a 300 point boost for each of my opponent's monsters. This gives her 1200 attack points, totalling to 2600." The elf glowed as her attack points increased.

"Teach them a lesson, Learning Elf, and destroy Consecrated Light!" ordered Gekko coolly. Learning Elf smashed the little pearl with her heavy tome. "I end my turn."

Masumi drew, and glared at Bandit Keith. "You call me a petty thief?" he asked, voice dripping with scorn. "You're one to talk. People like you are what I desire to rid this ugly world of!"

"Likewise, _you're_ one to lecture me on what I did," snapped Keith. "I'm changing, you little punk! And hopefully, it's a change for the better!"

Hazel watched the conversation with interest. Gekko didn't pay any attention, just keeping that intense glare on her and Masumi.

"I play the Graceful Charity spell card!" hissed Masumi. "I draw thrice, and discard twice." He whipped the top three cards off his deck, and discarded two of his old ones, and a terrible smirk spread across his face. "Next I activate Monster Reborn!" he called. The crest shone, and a gray and red armoured colossus rose from the ground. "I revive my Luminous Soldier, which I just discarded!" (2100/1400)

Keith growled. _Aw great. That thing gains more attack points against dark attribute monsters. But it's still not enough to take out my pumped-up Engine Violence, unless…_

Masumi grinned. "I've drawn it," he remarked. He held up the card, revealing the all-too familiar Seal emblazoned on it. "I activate the spell card, the Seal of Orichalcos!" he howled, and he placed it into the field slot. A rush of power rippled through the room as a band of green light expanded out from his disk, filled up with symbols, and inscribed the asymmetrical six-pointed star.

Gekko, Keith, and even Hazel braced themselves against the shockwave as the eyes of Masumi and Luminous Soldier glowed red, and the Seal appeared in their foreheads.

Luminous Soldier's attack points increased to 2600.

"Luminous Soldier, attack Engine Violence!" yelled Masumi.

The colossus raised its barbed sword and charged at Engine Violence as Masumi laughed maniacally.

"Oh sh-" Keith began to say.

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: one. I felt the need to put that in there, seeing as he curses a blue streak in the original manga to a level that would impress Cid Highwind and Abridged Vegeta.**

**The strategies you see being used may seem to have a lack of depth – or do they? Everyone has tricks hidden up their sleeves, that I promise you. **

**So, enjoy the read, enjoy the day, and please do review!**


	16. Defiers of Fate Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**So many reviews…these made my day. When I get reviews like that, then I am on fire, and ready to continue churning out the chapters! Seriously, I upload the chapter, I do well in Reach multiplayer, push a car up my steep driveway, what more could I ask for? And then these reviews…you guys are awesome.**

**It took longer than I expected due to a massive overlook when I wrote this first bit of this, and which set me back quite a bit. And then I realised that it didn't set me back as much as I thought it did.**

**E'gads I'm rambling. Anyhow…**

**Twilight Rose Witch: Soon. Very soon. Yeah, that's one thing about Keith that will never change. I had been working so hard to make Masumi an ass, and I'm quite glad that I succeeded in that regard. **

**Kicking Cherries: Heeeeyyyyyy! How are you doing, Chezza?! Hah-hah, with reviews like this, how can I not update soon?**

**Youngbountygirl: I'm a large fan of Yako myself, since he's implied to be a **_**very**_** good duelist even without the Wicked God Cards. Yeah, the only thing the special did was hint at the end that Yugi would be the one to defeat Atem. And I will take a look, yes.**

_Defiers of Fate Part 2_

Luminous Soldiers barbed sword cut deep into Engine Violence, splitting the machine in two, and detonating it.

Bandit Keith yelled out in shock as the shock threw him into the Seal. The card professor collapsed to the ground, coughing as his life points decreased to 2600.

"Thanks for that," coughed Keith. "When Engine Violence is destroyed, I can summon two Engine Tokens!"

"Think again, Keith!" grinned Masumi. He touched a button on his disk. "I activate the Solemn Warning trap card!" He groaned as his life points decreased to 2000. "At the cost of 2000 life points, this trap puts a stop to the summoning of those tokens!"

Keith cursed angrily. "Well, at least I still have Engine Tuner," he said. "It'll wait for another monster to equip to!" _Now I just have to hope that he doesn't figure out that their machine monsters get that bonus… _"I activate my own trap card!" yelled Keith. "Get a load of my Time Machine!"

A gigantic iron capsule, wreathed in mist, rose up behind Keith.

"This card goes back in time and brings back a monster!" said Keith with a nasty grin. "So guess who's back…"

The doors of the Time Machine creaked open, and Engine Violence stepped out.

"Engine Tuner, do your thing!" added Keith. "It'll raise the attack points of Engine Violence by half the number of its defence points!"

The green suited goblins swarmed over Engine Violence, and the machine bristled with power as its attack points rose to 2700 again.

Masumi grimaced. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn," he said.

Keith drew. "You're going down, punk!" he snarled. "First I summon another Engine Shell in defence mode!" Another hemisphere flanked engine appeared. "Now, get the little girl!" he chuckled. "Engine Violence, attack Etoile Cyber!" The pumped up machine fired, and Hazel flipped a facedown.

"I activate Doble Passé!" yelled Hazel. "I take your attack as a direct attack…" she said, and she yelped as the blast hit her and dropped her life points to 1300. "…and Etoile Cyber attacks you directly!" she called. The dancer lunged out with a brutal kick that caused _quite_ a bit of pain to Keith.

Gekko and Masumi winced.

"Don't forget that she gains an extra 500 attack points when she attacks directly!" warned Hazel, as Bandit Keith's life points fell down to 900.

"It's on, girlie!" raged Keith. "I'm taking you out!"

"Stop calling me that!" yelled Hazel back.

Gekko watched the whole thing with an expression of confusion. _Am I the only sensible person here?_

"Your cheating got me locked out of the Duelist Kingdom finals!" yelled Hazel.

"You're taking other peoples souls!" retorted Keith. "I might be fiendish, but at least I'm _trying _to repent! I've got someone else to beat, and you're just a stepping stone to get there! Now take your turn!"

"With pleasure!" seethed Hazel, drawing. "I sacrifice Cyber Tutu for Cyber Prima!" she called. Cyber Tutu vanished, replaced by a grey-suited, gray haired dancer. (2300/1600) "When she's summoned, I can destroy every face-up spell card on the field with her special ability!"

Gekko and Keith gasped as Fighting Spirit and Engine Tuner shattered.

"Alright, Prima, attack Engine Violence!" yelled Hazel. The dancer charged, but Gekko was ready.

"I activate the Shift trap card!" called Gekko. "I redirect your attack to my Learning Elf!" he called.

Learning Elf switched places with Engine Violence, and hid behind her tome as she was destroyed.

Gekko cried out in pain as his life points dropped to 3100. "Thanks to the special ability of Learning Elf, I can draw another card," he said, groaning. _This'll help._

Hazel frowned unhappily. "Masumi…" she warned.

"Trap card activate, Skill Drain!" called Masumi. "At the cost of 1000 life points, all special abilities are cancelled out!" He groaned as his life points dropped to 1000.

"That'll be all," said Hazel, grinning maliciously.

Gekko drew calmly, not showing any worry. "I play the spell card, Pot of Greed," he said. "I draw two more cards." He drew twice, and discarded his Shield Reflector. "I use Summoner Monk to summon Boomerang Elf from my deck!" he called. The Monk chanted, and a stocky elf clutching a massive black boomerang appeared. (1800/1500)

Gekko held up a card. "I now sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Angel O7!" he called. A blinding light filled the arena, and Gekko's ace card appeared, its white form even banishing some of the Seal's darkness. (2500/1500)

"Attack Etoile Cyber!" ordered Gekko. "Angel Beam Buster!" The angel fired a laser at the dancer.

"I activate the Draining Shield trap card!" called Masumi. He laughed as a shield surrounded Etoile Cyber, and the energy filled him, raising him to 3500 life points.

Gekko gave the Store-Breaker a look. "I end my turn," he said evenly.

Masumi drew. "I'm getting rid of that Monk before it can annoy me any further," he warned. "Luminous Soldier, attack Summoner Monk!" he called. The steel colossus charged, slicing through Summoner Monk with its barbed sword. "I also summon Shining Angel in defence mode," he said, and a white clothed, four-winged muscular angel appeared in a crouching position. (1400-1900/800) "That shall end my turn."

_This blasted duel is taking too long_, thought Bandit Keith, drawing. _I've gotta think of something to draw those two out, but without taking me out at the same time!_ He slotted two cards into his disk. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn," he muttered angrily.

Hazel drew, topping off her four-card hand and her eyes lit up. "I activate Machine Angel Ritual!" she called. "I sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Cyber Angel Dakini!"

The two monsters dissolved into blue flame, which separated into eight parts total, and formed a portal in between them over a steel cauldron, before flying into the portal. A tall blue-skinned woman clad in orange and gold armour emerged from the portal, carrying a staff and two swords in her four arms. (2700/2400)

"Oh _shoot_," growled Keith in shock.

Hazel smiled. ""Dakini, attack the Engine Shell!" she said. The Cyber Angel charged, and Keith acted.

"I activate the trap card Yellow Alert!" he called. "I special summon a defence monster to shield me!" He selected a card in his hand. "I choose my Barrel Dragon!" he called, and a gigantic iron dragon with laser barrels replacing its arms and another protruding out of its head appeared. (2600/2200) Dakini carved through it, and Keith shielded himself from the shockwave.

Hazel laughed sadistically at the card professor's pain. She slid a card into her disk. "I place this card facedown, and that ends my turn!" she called.

Gekko drew. "I equip my Angel O7 with Big Bang Shot!" he called, sliding the card into his disk. "Not only does this card boost my Angel's attack points by 400, but it also gives it the ability to deal damage through defence!" he called. Angel O7 glowed as its attack points rose to 2900. "Attack and destroy Shining Angel!" ordered Gekko. Angel O7 fired its laser, shattering Shining Angel, and dropping Masumi to 1400 life points.

Masumi ignored the shocks and fanned out his deck. "Because of my Shining Angel's special ability, I can summon another from my deck," he said. He placed the card into his disk. _I need to finish this. We have the upper hand in theory, but Skill Drain isn't blunting their strategy at all, while it's hindering Hazel's. But even if I get rid of it now, Tenma's Angel O7 will still cancel out all special abilities on the field. _

"I end my turn," said Gekko.

Masumi drew. _Tenma's _still_ not showing any worry. What is going on?,_ he thought. "I also play Pot of Greed to net me two more cards," he said. He drew, and smiled. "I play a card facedown," he said, slotting the card into his disk. "Then I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Skill Drain," he added. A whirlwind shattered his trap card. "Luminous Soldier, attack and destroy Engine Shell," he said. The colossal knight lunged and shattered the Engine. "I switch Shining Angel to defence mode," added Masumi.

Bandit Keith chuckled. "Amateur!" he snorted. "When my Engine Shell is destroyed, it summons an Engine Token to the field!" A pile of scrap appeared in front of him. (0/0)

"Take your turn, Keith," said Masumi, wrinkling his nose.

But Keith grinned, and drew. "I sacrifice my Engine Token to summon my Engine Kaiser in attack mode!" he called. A chrome engine with massive clawed limbs rose up in place of the Token. (2000/1400)

"I activate the Battle Mania trap card!" declared Masumi. "All your monsters have to attack me!" he called.

Keith shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Get his Angels! One, and two!"

Engine Kaiser shredded Shining Angel, and another appeared in attack position.

"Blow it to pieces, Engine Violence!" called Keith. Engine Violence fired and destroyed Shining Angel. Even empowered by the Seal of Orichalcos to 1900 attack points, it was no match for the machine, and Masumi's life points dropped to 1200.

"That's all for now," said Bandit Keith confidently. "What the heck was the point of that move?" he asked.

Masumi smiled. "With the effect of Shining Angel, I summon Tellus the Little Angel in attack mode," he said. The bulbous little angel appeared, and its eyes glowed red as its attack points rose to 1000.

Hazel drew. "This is getting dumb," she complained. "I play Pot of Greed, draw two cards, yadda, yadda." She drew her two cards. "I play De-Spell, and destroy Big Bang Shot!" she called.

Gekko gasped in surprise as his equip spell withered away.

"Cyber Angel Dakini, attack Angel O7!" called Hazel. The Cyber Angel charged forward and sliced Gekko's monster into three pieces, before disintegrating the fragments with a blast of energy from her staff.

"Looks like you plan to use Summoner Monk to bring out high-level monsters fell short," scoffed Hazel. "You might have reached perfection, but we can climb so much higher!"

"And who are you to say that you've risen above my level?" asked Gekko as he drew. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Masumi drew warily. "Luminous Soldier, attack and destroy Engine Violence!" he called. "And a spell card, Forbidden Chalice!" he added, slotting the card in. "This grants your monster 400 more attack points and cancels out its special abilities!" he laughed. "You won't be summoning any Tokens to help out Tenma!"

Keith cried out in pain as his life points dropped to 300. He chuckled at Masumi. "Gotcha," he remarked. "I gotcha!"

He flipped his facedown card. "Take a good look at my Scrap Garage trap card!" he laughed. "When an Engine gets sent to the scrapyard, I can bring all the Engines in my graveyard back with no points or special abilities!"

Two Engine Shells appeared beside the broken hulk of Engine Violence, all an unhealthy gray.

Hazel and Masumi's jaws dropped. _Oh this can't be good_, thought Hazel.

"I set one card facedown!" yelled Masumi.

"Not gonna help ya!" laughed Keith, black smoke shrouding his deck. He drew with a violent cackle. "I forget what this was like sometimes!" he added. "Ready? I sacrifice my broken Engines in order to summon this card!" he called. A dark beam of power consumed the three monsters, and erupted into a cloud of blue fog.

A shape reared up behind them in the fog. A colossal serpentine fiend with sickly pink skin, short arm, giant wings, and a humanoid face under its massive beak and blade-like horns screeched as it looked down at the two servants of Paradius that had dared to instigate its summoning. (?/?)

Keith laughed at Masumi and Hazel's terrified faces.

"Behold the Wicked Eraser!"

**I know that I definitely dragged the duel on far longer than it should have been going, but now things are getting heavy. Keith might be on the losing end of things, but he has a Wicked God card on the field now! Of course, we have to deal with the influence of the Wicked God itself, but why don't we just enjoy their terror for now. **

**Hah-hah-hah! Ah-**

**-Please review.**


	17. Defiers of Fate Part 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**I'm running out of free time to write without abandon here! I'll be able to write maybe one more chapter before I get back into the thick of things, and updates slow down. Or I could finish scripting the duel seriously quickly, and think up what to say for the interlude next chapter. Could that happen? Stranger things have happened, though. I think everyone, especially Cozzy, will be pleased with the climax and the end of this chapter.**

**I also discovered a strange way to get things flowing – imagine you're seeing what you're writing about on the pages of a manga. It works freaking' wonders. I know it sounds weird.**

**Don't forget to give Gearfried's story a squizz either.**

**Youngbountygirl: He didn't handle it too well the first time, because he was NUTS when he had it. And he isn't handling it too well this time either, which is what the drunken staggering has been about. Not to mention the Orichalcos stone in his pocket.**

**Sapphire Kitty: I'm keeping the divine attribute, type and immunities from the manga, but Keith can't sacrifice Eraser and summon another monster to trigger its destruction effect like Yako did in the original manga to summon Gaap the Divine Soldier. It has to be destroyed, not sacrificed. You think Masumi's arrogant here? Check out the special (which I've novelised), he thinks he can take down Yugi in that. I mean, seriously? As for using the Wicked Eraser, Keith has never liked it in the first place, so he sees it as a necessary stepping stone to get to duel Joey again. The main reason he's using it is because of the Orichalcos.**

_Defiers of Fate Part 3_

Bandit Keith laughed gleefully as the Wicked Eraser hissed and spat acid above him. "Like that?!" he crowed. "This is what you get when you bring junk like that Seal into this place!"

"_This _is a Wicked God card?" asked Masumi fearfully. Despite the fact that he had the power of the Seal on his side, he was terrified, and rightly so.

Hazel wasn't feeling any better. She gave the God monster a shaky glare, and faltered.

"The attack points of the Wicked Eraser are determined by the number of cards you have on your field!" said Keith proudly. "It gains 1000 attack and defence points per card!"

Hazel was quite surprised. "Seriously?" she asked. "It's very dependent for a God card," she remarked.

"Does that really matter?" asked Masumi fearfully. "We have seven cards between the two of us! That means his monstrosity has 7000 attack points!"

As if to prove his point, the Wicked Eraser screeched almost lazily.

"It's still my turn!" snapped Keith. "You're history, loser!" He pointed at Luminous Soldier. "Take out Luminous Soldier, Eraser!" he called. "Digestive Breath!"

The Wicked Eraser opened its beak, an awful sucking sound echoed through the room, and it fired a stream of liquid energy at the steel colossus.

Masumi reacted speedily. "I play the trap card, Shift!" he called. "I switch the attack target to Tellus the Little Angel!"

Tellus leaped in front of the liquid energy blast, and shattered upon contact. Masumi groaned as the energy whistled past him. "When Tellus is destroyed, I get a Tellus Wing Token," said Masumi, as a little wing floated in front of him.

Keith shrugged. "Not gonna help you now!" he grinned. "Ahahahahah!"

Gekko narrowed his eyes. "Stop Keith," he warned. "You're letting the Eraser dictate you."

Keith screwed his eyes up, and concentrated. When he opened them again, they were less mad than they had been, and he nodded, slid a card into his disk, the backed hologram appearing. "Take your turn," he said hoarsely. "The Eraser has 5000 points apiece at the moment."

Hazel drew, and turned Dakini's card, and then slid a card into her disk. "I switch Dakini to defence mode and place this card facedown," she said. _Guess I might as well let Keith do the job for me_, she thought craftily.

Fortunately, Masumi was too busy paying attention to Gekko and Keith.

Gekko drew. "I play Graceful Charity," he said. He drew three cards and then sent two to the graveyard. "That will be all."

Masumi looked around. He sweated as he drew and sighed in relief. "I switch my Luminous Soldier into defence mode," he said. "That will be all." _This had better work out for us._

Now it was back to Keith. He drew his card without even looking at it. "You might be wondering why me, claiming to reform, is using a Wicked God card," he remarked casually. Gekko gave him a warning glance, but Keith seemed to be behaving himself.

"This card doesn't fit in with my machine deck at all," commented Keith. "Besides, it relies on my opponent to win. But you know what? It saved me. Or at least it started the process of doing so. So I owe this God card respect in a full-on duel, and I'll use it for a purpose that isn't wicked, like the junk you lot have been spouting since we've seen you. Mankind is flawed? Pshaw! That makes 'em easier to take down and it makes us who we are!"

Gekko and Hazel were both surprised at how deep the card professor was getting.

"I got one duelist to take down, and it's neither of you two!" yelled Keith. "Goals give you a reason to live, and once I've beaten you, I'm heading to duel that guy myself, and forget the consequences!"

He raised his arm. "Wicked Eraser, fire!" he called. "Destroy Luminous Soldier!" The God monster cranked open its beak and blasted the liquid energy at it, melting it away.

"Now, it's your turn, Engine Kaiser!" yelled Keith. The machine slashed through the Tellus Wing Token.

Masumi shielded himself, and slid a card from his hand into his disk. "Meet your maker!" he crowed. "When you destroy more than two of my monsters, I can summon this card from my hand!" He raised his arm as light filled the room. "Come forth, my Tualatin!" (2800/2500)

A marble angelic creature not unlike Angel O7 descended, with large blade-like arms studded with emeralds.

"When Tualatin is summoned, I declare an attribute, and banish it from Tualatin's presence!" declared Masumi. "I select divine!"

Bandit Keith laughed horribly as black smoke dispelled Tualatin's light. The unaffected Wicked Eraser shrieked angrily.

"Wh-what?" protested Masumi.

Hazel facepalmed with an embarrassed moan. "Normal effects don't work on God cards you bonehead!" she groaned.

"I'm under pressure!" retorted Masumi. "Besides, if Gekko doesn't summon a monster, Tualatin can wipe him out!" Sure enough, the Seal had empowered Tualatin to 3300 attack points, but it was far short of Eraser's current 6000 attack and defence points.

"My turn," said Hazel. She drew, and looked at the card. "I pass," she said.

Masumi gasped in surprise. "Wait a second, what are you doing?" he asked. "I need your support here!"

"If I put another card on the field, then we're stuffed," she whispered. "Take out Tenma before he can get up to any of his tricks."

"Right…" said Masumi. He looked at Gekko as the Tenma twin drew. "I place a card facedown," said Gekko. "That's all."

Masumi drew, forcing himself to stop shaking. _I have the ingredients to take out Gekko_, he reassured himself.

"Trap card activate!" called Gekko. "Jar of Greed!" The card flipped to show a grinning red jar. "I draw one card from my deck." He drew, and examined the card.

Masumi was a bit flustered, but held the thought in his head. _Okay,_ he thought. "Tualatin, attack Tenma directly!" he yelled.

Gekko faced the torrent of light that Tualatin blasted head-on.

A shout broke Masumi's thought of victory. "I activate the Damage Diet trap card!" yelled Keith. "This trap halves the damage Gekko takes this turn!"

The light threw Gekko of his feet and flung him into the Seal of Orichalcos. Gekko screamed in pain as his life points plummeted to 1450.

"You okay down there?" asked Keith, black smoke slowly shrouding him.

"Keith…" protested Gekko, weakly raising his arm.

"You had your chance Masumi!" bellowed Bandit Keith, clutching his cards. He drew as the Wicked Eraser screeched behind him. "Eraser, attack Tualatin!"

Masumi stiffened in horror. He turned to Hazel in desperation. "Stop the attack!" he yelled. "Do something, Hazel!"

Hazel looked at Masumi and tilted her head. "That's the first time I've heard you say my name," she casually remarked. "I hate it. Besides, I don't see the point in worrying about you. With your cards out of the way, Eraser is a sitting duck."

Masumi's blood ran cold. Before he could scream at Hazel, the Wicked Eraser blasted Tualatin with Digestive Breath, melting it into slag. Masumi was surrounded in a whirlwind of energy that whipped at his long hair, and her screamed in pain.

"Traitor!" he yelled as his life points fell to zero. The Seal shrank around the Store-Breaker, and he fell to his knees as his soul rushed away.

"You've done it Keith!" yelled Gekko, struggling to his feet. "Now just leave it at that! Just stop!"

Keith shuddered. He looked at his hand. "I am your master," he snarled. "Obey me!"

The Wicked Eraser screeched at Keith as the Seal faded, with Masumi out of the picture, his field no longer counted for anything.

Keith collapsed, and the black smoke faded.

Hazel gasped her card, and looked at her two opponents. Tenma was on his feet, and Keith was lying face down, barely conscious.

The Wicked Eraser whipped it body around wildly shrieking.

Gekko looked Hazel in the eye. "You have to stop it."

Hazel nodded. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos," she said.

"No!" yelled Gekko.

It was too late. Hazel slid the card into the field zone of her scythe-like duel disk, and the Seal formed on the disk, expanding outward around them.

"You're thinking about your mission now?" asked Gekko incredulously.

"I'm taking your soul, and that of your brother," said Hazel, her eyes glowing red and the Seal appearing in her forehead. Dakini's eyes glowed as her attack points rose to 3200. "I switch Cyber Angel Dakini to attack mode!" Dakini stood up, brandishing her weapons. "Next I activate the Fiery Fervour trap card!" called Hazel.

The trap card flipped up, and a blazing aura surrounded Dakini. "This trap doubles Dakini's original strength!" called Hazel. Dakini gave a battle cry as her attack points increased to 5400.

The Wicked Eraser screeched as it realized that it was outmatched.

"Cyber Angel Dakini, attack the Wicked Eraser!" yelled Hazel, madness in her eyes.

Gekko could only watch as Dakini lunged, and carved through Eraser's neck. The God monster's body fell to the group, and Gekko felt a sense of horror as he saw Keith's life points fall to zero.

As the Seal closed around Keith, Gekko saw him lift his head and give a slight grin. Then there was a rushing sound for the second time in five minutes as the Orichalcos took his soul.

But as the Seal expanded back outward, so did a wave of black liquid from the vanished body of the Wicked Eraser.

"What's happening?!" yelled Hazel as Cyber Angel Dakini and her facedown cards began to sink into the sludge.

"When the Wicked Eraser is destroyed, it takes everything else on the field with it," said Gekko, wiping his brow.

"What?" asked Hazel in shock as the sludge dissipated.

Gekko sighed in relief. "Good," he said. "I was afraid it would surround us like it did when Keith duelled Joey Wheeler."

"Back up, Keith wants to go after Joey?" asked Hazel. "Well then, good thing I put a stop to that."

Gekko's eyes flashed up. "End your turn, or finish your move," he warned her.

Hazel tried to mess with him by smiling and acting like it was no big deal, but Gekko's composure was unnerving her.

She slid a card into her disk. "I place a card facedown and end my turn," she said.

Gekko drew his next card. "I play Arnament Reincarnation!" he called. "Since I have no monster on the field, all the equip cards in my graveyard are summoned as monsters!" he called.

"What?!" protested Hazel as five figures of white fire appeared.

"They each gain the bonus as if they were equipped with themselves!" said Gekko. "Mist Body, Fighting Spirit, Shield Reflector, Spirit Slayer and Big Bang Shot!" He selected a card in his hand. "But they won't be here for long. At least not _three_ of them," he said.

Ice ran through Hazel's veins. _No way_, she thought. _Tenma didn't give his brother…_

"I sacrifice Mist Body, Shield Reflector, and Fighting Spirit," declared Gekko. He placed the card onto his disk, and red lightning erupted from behind him, consuming the monsters.

"You're about to lose!" yelled Gekko, _still_ keeping an aura of calm. "I summon the Wicked Dreadroot!"

A gigantic, aqua skinned fiend burst out of the ground. Its head was enclosing in a gaping ram skull, bone framed its massive wings, pectorals and thighs, and its massive fists had the addition of long bone spurs on its forearms. (4000/4000)

"Remember that you brought this on yourself, Hazel Valentine," warned Gekko.

Hazel looked at him in shock – the Wicked God wasn't even affecting him.

"Wicked Dreadroot, attack Hazel directly with Fierce Knockdown!" yelled Gekko. Dreadroot raised its fists and threw a titanic punch.

"Reveal spell card, Contagion of Madness!" yelled Hazel. "This spell activates when I'm attacked directly! It inflicts half the damage from the battle to you!"

"No!" yelled Gekko, as black smoke surrounded him, dropping his life points to zero.

At the same time, Dreadroot's fist crashed into Hazel, and threw her across the room, dropping _her _life points to zero.

. .

Dartz smiled as two new carvings appeared, a hooded, long haired teen in robes, with an expression of betrayal on his face, and a man wearing a flag on his head, and sunglasses, hands in his pockets, and a smirk on his face.

And in a valley in America, Yami Yugi walked past lost the lost souls of PaniK, Yami Marik, Weevil, Arkana, and Bandit Keith Howard.

**I had a whole bunch of stuff that I was going to say, but I forgot what it was.**

**Oh yeah.**

**Please review.**


	18. A Brief Respite

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**As I type this introduction, I am currently recovering from running a few k's – something that I haven't done for a while, and as a result, it completely screwed me over. I've also begun to script the next duel, and it should be very cool, and very heavy. This chapter is an interlude, and hopefully a test to see if I can write a chapter two-thousand words long without a duel in it.**

**Chapters will start to slow down, as I'm back at university – again. Expect chapters on either Wednesday or the weekend – New Zealand time. **

**Youngbountygirl: Ah, gotcha. He certainly does have practice, and he'll never be entirely good – but he's started to draw the line at certain points. Glad you liked my linking.**

**Cosmic Kiss: Hah-hah-hah-hah! Glad, you liked it, and thank you so much for the praise. If you must know, I actually remembered Contagion of Madness from when Hazel used it in Jaden's Twin Sister. Yeah, you're not the only one glad to see the back of Masumi – ass that he is.**

_A Brief Respite_

Hazel crashed into the barrier of the Seal of Orichalcos, life points at zero. As she dropped to the ground from the impact of the Wicked Dreadroot's attack, she uttered a silent thanks in her head. _Thanks Alister._

Gekko did so likewise, bowing his head as he looked at his life point counter, at zero.

. .

"_I want you to take the Wicked Dreadroot," said Yako, holding out the card._

"_Are you mad?" asked Gekko. "Forgive me, but I have no intention of exposing myself to this…parasite."_

"_You've got to do this for me," said Yako. "You might have been able to take down one of them without any help, but you can't take chances. We've lost Master Pegasus, and most of the people in the building. I don't want to lose you too Gekko."_

_Gekko hesitated, and he reached, and took the card. Black smoke shrouded him, but he ignored the whispers at his mind, and placed it inside his deck. The smoke faded._

_Yako smiled. "Thank you Gekko," he said._

. .

Gekko straightened up, and walked over to Keith's body, picking up the Wicked Eraser card and pocketing it. He looked over at Hazel angrily and scornfully.

"_Gekko? Gekko, can you hear me? Keith? Don't lose on me,"_ called a voice over the radio.

Gekko tapped his headset. "Keith's down, but he took Masumi Monomo out with him," he said. "But Miss Valentine and I drew the duel."

Yako didn't answer for a moment, and he finally sighed. _"I've been such a fool this entire time,"_ he said. _"Getting the card professors to guard the buildings, when what I should have done was take these people on by myself, one at a time."_

"It's not your fault Yako," reassured Gekko.

"Yes it is!" interjected Hazel.

"Be quiet," said Gekko.

"Hey, you can't tell me what to do-" protested Hazel.

"_I said, be quiet!"_ yelled Gekko, cutting her off. "I have reached perfection as duelist! I have every right to lecture you! Now close your mouth for five minutes while I talk to my brother! You can understand that, can't you?"

Hazel thought for a bit, and nodded. "Sorry," she said. "I can understand you wanting to talk to him, yeah."

Gekko nodded, calming himself down. _The Wicked Dreadroot is playing with my head_, he thought. _And it doesn't help that I've got the Wicked Eraser with me as well._

"_So Hazel's with you now?"_ asked Yako carefully.

"Yes," said Gekko throwing her a dirty look.

Hazel stuck her tongue out at Gekko.

"_Let's help her finish her mission, then,"_ said Yako. _"Would you kindly bring her up to the apex?"_

Gekko nodded curtly. "I can do that."

"_Thank you Gekko,"_ said Yako gratefully. _"See you there."_

Gekko signed off, and gave Hazel an eye-over. "Alright, you're getting a shortcut," he said.

"Wait, what?" asked Hazel. "Is your little coward of a brother coming out of hiding yet?"

"Yes, and no," replied Gekko. He waved to the door. "Come on. We're going to him."

. .

Yako sat on the roof of the Industrial Illusions building, hands clasped on his knee, and stretching the other leg out along the ground.

He closed his eyes, feeling the cool air wafting across his face. It was a cold afternoon, so he was wearing his pink coat and maroon mantle, though he'd left his coat open again – he thought it looked better that way.

"Master Pegasus," he whispered. "I thought that I'd let you go…and then you stepped back into my life."

"I don't know whether I'll see you again," he mused. "But I promise that I will make you proud. I'll protect the cards you left behind…the cards that I never should have created. And I'll try to free her," he said. "I will not take Hazel Valentine's soul just because her sister claimed yours."

. .

Hazel stood by Gekko in the elevator, slightly bored.

"So," she said. "You and your brother were orphans, weren't you?"

"Yes," said Gekko curtly. "I did most of the caring work, but Yako was quite deceptive. He was always shy and quiet, hiding behind me, but that didn't mean that he couldn't and wouldn't stand up for himself. But even so, it was hard." He looked up at the light in the ceiling of the elevator. "When Master Pegasus found and adopted us, I was terrified that he wouldn't take Yako as well. I begged him to take Yako too. I was quite surprised when he was so enthusiastic about the idea. Apparently, he hadn't known that I had a twin."

Gekko closed his eyes and smiled. "To all of us, Master Pegasus was like the sun. I wasn't the only one of the orphans who had doubts when he tried to seize control of KaibaCorp."

"To bring Cecelia back to life, right?" asked Hazel, surprised that Gekko was talking readily.

"Yes," he said. "Yako and Pegasus were connecting quite readily. Yako was always interested in the mystic sciences, and for Pegasus to disappear at that point, it nearly destroyed him." He sighed, and bowed his head. "It nearly destroyed so many people."

"Yeah, I gotta ask, why didn't you destroy the Wicked God cards?" asked Hazel.

"Originally, Keith and I had inferior copies," admitted Gekko. "Yako controlled me to use mine, so I tore it up the first chance I got. I believe that Joey Wheeler disposed of Keith's."

"How do you know that he didn't keep it?" asked Hazel.

"He described what it did to him and Keith to me," said Gekko. "It was horrifying. He wouldn't have kept it after that experience. I'm quite surprised that Keith took it up again, to be honest. Besides, we also found the pieces by Keith after he lost."

He sighed. "As for Yako's, he saw himself tear them up, but he didn't really. He sealed them away unconsciously." Gekko thought to himself. "I did wonder though, the Wicked Gods might have started Yako down that path, but he would have taken any revenge that he could have at that point. They were simply there, really. As to why they still haven't been destroyed, you must remember what Marik Ishtar used the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon for. He even used them to trap your sister in the Shadow Realm. The Egyptian Gods were described as gods of light, but they were used to bring quite a lot of darkness. Why could the Wicked Gods not be used for the light and good in the world?"

There was a slight chime, and the elevator doors opened. "We're here," said Gekko rather unnecessarily.

Hazel stepped out onto the apex, and saw Yako sitting casually on the rooftop.

"Good afternoon, Miss Valentine," remarked Yako, standing up and casting aside his mantle. "I don't believe we've met."

Yako looked Hazel over, his eyes resting on the green stone attached to her choker and narrowing. "That stone," he said. "I can only assume that you got it when you joined Paradius."

"What's it to you?" asked Hazel. "You want to take my soul, I want to take yours, let's do this already!"

"I never said that I wanted to take your soul," pointed out Yako as Gekko reached into his pocket.

Hazel did a double take. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"Alright, I may have when the Wicked Gods were playing havoc with my head," admitted Yako. "But I don't want to anymore. If I did, just because your sister was the one who stole Master Pegasus' soul, that would mean that I haven't moved on. I wouldn't be ready to face the world after that." He stood tall. "I'm ready now."

"Can we just duel already?" asked Hazel.

"No," replied Yako calmly. "Before we do, I want to know how you got caught up in all of this."

Hazel shrugged. "Honestly? I tried to get Mai out of this mess, but the agreement was that if I won, she'd come with me, but if she did, I joined Paradius. The bikers that nicked Yugi's God cards picked me up."

"You'd think that they would have been sent to get the Wicked God cards," remarked Gekko.

"They were sealed in a statue," pointed out Yako. "Whereas the Egyptian God cards were kept in the Kame Game with Solomon Muto guarding them." He looked at Hazel. "The Store-Breakers were cannon-fodder, weren't they?" he asked. "Send them in, capture some souls, and lure the Wicked God cards out."

Hazel shrugged. "Something like that," she said. She shifted her duel disk to duelling mode, deploying the scythe. "Now let's do this already."

Yako held out his hand. "Gekko, please," he said.

Gekko handed him the two cards, and Yako shuffled them into his deck.

"Alright then, Hazel!" called Yako, shifting his own disk to duelling mode. "Leave this building at once if I am victorious! And Gekko, if Hazel wins, don't get in her way!"

"Are you crazy Yako?" asked Gekko.

"Do what I say, please Gekko," said Yako. "I can handle myself." He looked Hazel square in the eye. "Let's go! Time to duel!"

**Come on, New Zealand, win this test match!**

**Rambling again, and I haven't even started talking yet. It'll be a wee while until the next chapter, I have to keep up with my university study. You all know how it goes. **

**Next chapter, the Seal of Orichalcos is pitted against the Wicked God cards! **

**The battle will be **_**legend**_**ary! **

**Yes, with the italics on the legend. **

**I'm crazy like that.**

**Please review!**


	19. In the Sky that Night Part 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**It begins. The one you've most likely known was coming, and where it all comes to a head. **

**As Hazel gets ready to duel Yako, little does she know that Alister is preparing to confront Seto Kaiba for the second time – and this time only one of them will walk away. **

**As for Yako, can he really keep the promise to preserve Hazel's soul? **

**Something just got me motivated to begin to do this. While I haven't currently **_**finished**_** the next bit of the duel, I have some awesome points to pop into it, and I can say for sure that it will be HEAVY, and that you will not be disappointed with the duel. This is the first time that I've been able to say that with certainty. It makes me happy. Although I had to rework it a bit after I nearly forgot an extremely cool bit.**

**Of course I do need to remember not to go overboard with this as well, and not neglect my studies. Just because I feel old in my classes does not mean that I can relax. **

**And another scary question pops up – where to after this? That shouldn't be too far in the foreseeable future, but after this, really, I'll only have my Halo fic to work on. Of course by the time I finish both of these, Zexal may have revealed more information about its antagonists, and I can get back to work with Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia. **

**But if I haven't thought of anything after that…**

**Bah, I'll worry about that later.**

**Youngbountygirl: Oh **_**maliciously.**_

_In the Sky that Night Part 1_

Yako quickly drew his five card hand, and watched as Hazel did the same. He scanned his cards, satisfied with his draws. _Good_, he thought. _I can set up perfectly with this hand._

Hazel looked over her hand. _Hmm, could have been better,_ she thought to herself.

Off to the side, Gekko kept his eyes on Yako, waiting for that insane look to appear.

"This is it, Hazel!" declared Yako. "I take the first turn, if you don't mind!"

Hazel shrugged. "Go for it," she said.

Yako drew, and added the card to his hand, then placed another card sideways on his duel disk. "I summon Summoner Monk in defence mode," he said. (800/1600) The purple and white-robed old man appeared, legs crossed and arms buried in opposite sleeves. "I also activate his effect, discarding this spell card to summon Seraphim Blaster from my deck!" added Yako, discarding Multiply. Summoner Monk opened its mouth and chanted a haunting melody, and an ivory armoured, blonde haired angel appeared, with twin barrels of celestial bronze hidden under its blue cloak. (1800/1200)

Yako slid a card into his disk under it. "I also play a facedown card!" he called. "That will end my turn."

Hazel drew. "I'm gonna bring you down Tenma!" she warned him. "First I summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode!" she called. The brown haired, blue skinned, red suited dancer appeared left arm spread wide. (1200/1600) "I play two cards facedown, and I end my turn," she said, sliding them into her disk. The backed holograms appeared, one after the other.

_They're both being cautious,_ thought Gekko. _But it won't be long before Yako tests the waters of what Hazel has planned._

Yako drew. "My turn," he said, examining his card. _Excellent! I've drawn Beast King Barbaros! If I'm going to end this duel quickly, he'll be a massive help!_, he thought to himself. "I discard another spell from my hand, and I summon Seraphim Saber from my deck!" he called, discarding Fiend's Sanctuary. Another angel in ivory armour appeared as Summoner Monk chanted, this one clutching a sword of shining silver. (1600/1500) "Then I summon Seraphim Gardna in defence mode!" added Yako, placing a fourth monster card on his disk. A heavily armoured figure in ivory appeared, clutching a mirrored shield. (1000/2000)

"And that's not all!" called Yako. "Each Seraphim gains 300 points for each fairy monster on the field!" Saber glowed as its attack points increased to 2200, and Blaster as its own increased to 2400. Gardna's defence points increased to 2600.

_That's three monsters that he can sacrifice,_ thought Gekko. _Is he going to summon a Wicked God card against her?_

_All right, I can start things off by inflicting damage now,_ thought Yako. _Then I'll go for the win on my next turn. _"Seraphim Blaster, attack Etoile Cyber!" called Yako.

The angel raised its barrels, and blasted a torrent of light at the dancer.

Hazel grinned. _He fell for it! _"I activate the trap card, Doble Passé!" she called. "Your attack becomes a direct attack, and my Etoile Cyber gets to attack you directly!" She touched the button on her disk, and another trap flipped up. "And with Wabuku, the damage you deal to me is reduced to zero!"

The torrent of light passed by harmlessly, and Hazel grinned in anticipation. "Take this Tenma!" she called. "When my Etoile Cyber attacks you, she gains 500 attack points!"

Yako flinched in surprise as the dancer charged and delivered a vicious kick, and his life points dropped to 2300.

Hazel laughed. "Hah! This'll be easier than I thought!" she crowed. She pointed at Yako. "You've got a long way to go Tenma, if you think you can take me out that easily!"

Yako chuckled, and Hazel flinched. "What's so funny?" she asked angrily.

"You also need to rethink the ease that you think that you will defeat me with!" retorted Yako, touching a button on his disk. "I activate the trap card Damage Vaccine Ω Max!" he called. He began to glow with blue light. "This trap restores my life points when I take damage!" he explained, and his life points increased to 4000 once again.

Hazel stuck out her tongue. "You got lucky!" she said.

"Call it what you want, but you use that combo every time you duel, so it seemed reasonable to predict it," replied Yako calmly. "Let me ask you something again," he said. "This new world that Dartz claims to be producing," he remarked. "Do you believe his claims?"

"That the world is evil and dying?" asked Hazel. "I really don't care too much about that," she said. "You know what I care about? The power of the Orichalcos! It's unbelievable! You don't know what it's like!"

"No, but I've had similar experiences, _believe_ me," replied Yako intensely. I find it hard to believe that your Seal can match the powers of the Wicked God cards, but after seeing what it's done to your mind, I might be a little more accepting." He gestured to her. "It's your turn, by the way," he added.

Hazel drew. "I play the spell card, Pot of Greed!" she called. "Now let's see what two new cards can do for me!" She drew her cards and whistled. "Handy!" she remarked. "I play the spell card, Terraforming!" she called. "This allows me to add a field spell from my deck to my hand!"

Yako and Gekko froze. _No,_ thought Gekko.

"I add Ritual Sanctuary to my hand!" called Hazel, sifting through her deck. "And now I'll play my Ritual Sanctuary!" she called, slotting the card into her field zone.

The area transformed into a red-carpeted church, wedding bells ringing in the air.

Yako and Gekko sweatdropped. _Okay…that was embarrassing,_ thought Yako.

Hazel giggled. "You should have seen the looks on your faces!" she laughed. "Now I discard Angel Wing to add Machine Angel Ritual to my hand!" she said.

She discarded the spell card and sifted through her deck again, taking the card and slotting it into her disk. "I sacrifice Cyber Prima from my hand to activate Machine Angel Ritual, and summon out Cyber Angel Benten!" called Hazel triumphantly.

Hazel's grey suited dancer appeared, before dissolving into blue flame, which separated into six parts total, and formed a portal in between them over a steel cauldron, before flying into the portal. A woman in a black-white and red bodysuit carrying a fan on a chain and with her eyes hidden under a golden mask appeared. (1800/1500)

Hazel chuckled as she selected the last card in her hand. "Now I'll play a card that's gonna change this entire game!" she said. "It's fight or lose, Tenma!"

"No, Hazel, please don't do it!" yelled Yako in horror.

It was too late. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" yelled Hazel, slotting the card into the field zone of her disk. She screamed in pain as green light surrounded her, and it began to expand outward into a ring of green light, with strange symbols inscribed on it. Lines of light began to trace out an asymmetrical six-pointed star.

Gekko was thrown backwards as the Seal expanded outwards. "Yako!" he yelled, picking himself up.

Yako lowered his arms to see Hazel raise her head, eyes glowing red and the Seal glowing in her forehead.

"Now watch as the Seal empowers every one of my monsters!" she crowed, and the eyes of Etoile Cyber and Cyber Angel Benten glowed red, the Seal likewise glowing in their foreheads, pumping them up to 1700 and 2300 attack points respectively.

"What are you thinking?" seethed Yako. "Are you so drunk on power that you're going to risk your soul over this? Think about it, you're on a suicide mission! You can't win!"

"I can, and I will!" retorted Hazel. "Cyber Angel Benten, attack Summoner Monk!" she yelled. Benten charged, and threw her fan, shattering Summoner Monk.

"And get this!" added Hazel. "When Benten destroys a monster, she dishes out damage equal to the destroyed monsters defence points!" Benten threw her fan again.

Yako gritted his teeth. _Oh, this isn't going to end well_, he thought to himself. The fan struck him in the chest and he yelled in pain as his life points fell to 2400.

"That's enough pain for now!" called Hazel.

Yako drew, shaking his head. _I could take out every single monster on the field right now, and she doesn't have a single card in her hand. What is she thinking? Is the Orichalcos really that powerful that it can screw her dueling skills over like that?_ He slid a card into his disk. "I sacrifice all three of my monsters!" he called. The three Seraphim disappeared in a blaze of light.

"That's it Tenma!" taunted Hazel. "Summon a Wicked God card, and crush me! You're not gonna save me that way!" She stuck her tongue out a again.

"I summon Beast King Barbaros!" yelled Yako.

_Wait, what?_, thought Hazel in shock.

A centaur-like lion arose, with the upper body of a humanoid lion clutching a lance and rounded shield perched on the torso of a black panther. (3000/1200)

"When Beast King Barbaros is summoned with three sacrifices, I can destroy all the cards on you field!" yelled Yako.

Hazel gasped in horror as her two monsters shattered as Barbaros roared.

Yako clenched his fist. _I can't let her stop me from doing this!_, he thought. _I'm sorry._ He raised his arm. "Now, Beast King Barbaros, attack Hazel directly!" he yelled.

Barbaros raised his lance and charged as Yako yelled "Tornado Shaper!"

The lance smashed into Hazel, and threw her on her back.

**Let me clear up some weird bits.**

**Yako's original plan was for his Seraph's attack to succeed, and then Barbaros would have wiped Hazel out. He was hoping that she wouldn't draw the Seal, but stuff happens.**

**Hazel, of course, thought that Yako would summon a Wicked God card, as she would have lost less in almost every case if Yako had summoned one, with the likely exception of the Wicked Dreadroot. Of course, when he summoned Barbaros, there was the obligatory Oh Crap moment. I love that. **

**Alright guys, it was a long chapter, so I hope this is satisfying you, and please review!**


	20. In the Sky that Night Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**Okay, I know it's been a while. BUT I have finished re-scripting the duel (I lost the first part and couldn't find it, so I had to start again. Grrrr.) **

**So the only things that will stop me from uploading chapters are what my workload is like. I'll have a fair bit of time in the Easter break, and one week two weeks after that, so the duel should be finished by then. **

**I hope you're enjoying this, guys!**

**Youngbountygirl: Yeah, sacrificing monsters in that manner is rarely a good idea – unless you sacrifice Evoltile Najasho. I didn't fully understand that when I first watched the episode ****myself (mainly cause it was one of the first Orichalcos episodes that I ever saw), and I quite agree with you. And yeah, Hazel will be giving a lot more to the duel – she's had the wake-up call that she's in deep trouble, and she gets a chance to do something about it now.**

**China Smith: Heh-heh-heh. Trust me; I doubt that **_**anyone**_ **will see the end of this duel coming. Hazel doomed? Course. Or is she? And Yako isn't as obsessed with perfection like Kay was though.**

_In the Sky that Night Part 2_

Hazel landed on her back with a scream of pain, coming to rest against the Seal of Orichalcos.

Yako stared back, his face impassive. _I'm so sorry, Hazel,_ he thought. He slotted a card into his disk. "I set one card and end my turn," he said as the backed hologram appeared.

Hazel struggled to her feet. _Shoot_, she thought to herself. _I hate to admit it, but Tenma's right. What was I thinking? Now I've got no cards on my field, and to top it off, none in my hand! _

Hands shaking, Hazel drew her card.

Off to the side, Gekko watched the duel play out.

_So far Yako's been playing her like a piano_, he thought. _But she doesn't realize that she has the advantage, even with no cards at all. He doesn't want her to lose her soul. Hopefully she doesn't figure it out before he can free her. _Gekko clenched his fist. _Please be careful Yako._

Hazel's eyes lit up.

Yako caught his breath.

"I activate the spell card, Card of Sanctity!" called Hazel. "Now with this card, we both draw until we're holding six cards!"

Gekko's mouth almost fell open in shock. _No way_, he thought. _How lucky can you get?_

Yako drew his cards, as did Hazel, and she scanned them happily. "I also play Graceful Charity!" she added. "I draw three more cards, and discard two!" Humming to herself, she drew three cards and slid two into the graveyard. "Next I play the spell card known as Advanced Ritual Art!" she called. "Now I can send two normal monsters from my deck to my grave as ritual sacrifices!" she said. She scanned her deck and discarded two Blade Skaters. "I'll also remove the Djinn Prognosticator of Rituals from my graveyard as a further sacrifice!"

Two purple suited skaters with blades attached to their wrists and a fat grey fiend with a staff appeared, dissolved into blue flame, which separated into eight parts, and formed a portal in between them over a steel cauldron, before flying into the portal.

"Now I summon the Cyber Angel Dakini!" declared Hazel triumphantly.

The tall blue-skinned woman in orange and gold armour emerged from the portal, carrying a staff and two swords in her four arms. (2700/2400)

"The Seal of Orichalcos empowers her to 3200 attack points!" added Hazel. Dakini and Hazel's eyes glowed red, the Seal glowing in their foreheads.

"No, now it's stronger than Barbaros!" gasped Gekko in horror.

"Dakini, attack Barbaros now!" yelled Hazel. Dakini charged, slicing the Beast King in two. "And when the monster summoned using Djinn inflicts damage, you have to discard a card from your hand!"

Yako cried out in pain as his life points dropped to 2200, but then he laughed as he discarded his card. "Thank you kindly, Miss Valentine!" he called, flipping his trap card up. "I activate the Level Resistance trap card!" he called. "Now I can summon monsters with stars equal to Barbaros's from my deck!"

Yako slid two cards out of his deck. "I summon Votis!" he called. A horned snake demon appeared, clutching a sabre. (1700/1900) "I also summon Daybreaker!" he added. A white armoured knight with a red cape wielding a horizontally hilted sword appeared, swinging its blade. (1700/0) "When summoned specially, I can summon another Daybreaker from my hand!" added Yako, and a second Daybreaker appeared.

Hazel gritted her teeth. _Tenma's incredible. Just when I thought I had him where I wanted him, he's got another three monsters on the field. The only thing that stopped it being four is that his other Daybreaker must still be in his _deck. She slid two cards into her disk. "I play two cards facedown. That ends my turn.

"My turn!" declared Yako. "I draw!" He drew with a flourish, and added the card to his hand, before selecting another. "Once again, I sacrifice three monsters!" he cried. The three monsters vanished in a swirl of red lightning as Yako placed the card onto his duel disk. "Behold as the darkness pulls aside to become the hope in the night, Hazel Valentine!" he declared. "The embodiment of fear itself, The Wicked Dreadroot!"

The giant aqua skinned fiend roared, adding to the terror of the gaping ram skull surrounding its face, and bared its chest, drawing its bone lined arms and wings back as it appeared in a blaze of red lightning. (4000/4000)

_What is Yako thinking?_, wondered Gekko. _Does he want to save her, or not? Then again, he'll give the game away if he goes soft on her now._

Fear ripped through Hazel as she looked up at the gigantic Wicked God monster.

"Dreadroot's special ability activates!" declared Yako. "Fear Domination!"

Dreadroot bellowed, and Hazel shielded herself as the powers of the Seal of Orichalcos and the Wicked God monster clashed.

"This effect halves the attack and defence points of every other monster on the field!" explained Yako. He pointed across the field at Cyber Angel Dakini. "Wicked Dreadroot!" he yelled. "Attack Cyber Angel Dakini! Fierce Knockdown!"

Dreadroot raised its fist and launched a powerful punch across the field.

Yako watched the attack in fear. _You'd better save yourself, Hazel!_, he thought desperately. _Do it!_

Hazel chuckled, and both Yako and Gekko blanched in surprise.

"I activate the trap card, Spellbinding Illusion!" declared Hazel, touching the panel on her disk.

The card flipped up, and a circle inscribed with an Eye of Wjdat enclosed the Wicked Dreadroot.

"I'm sure you remember this cards effect," remarked Hazel. "It cancels out the special ability of the Wicked Dreadroot and reduces it attack strength by 500 points!"

Dreadroot faltered, attack points at 3500, but kept its punch on course.

"And now for my spell card!" added Hazel. "Forbidden Chalice! Until the end of my turn, Dakini's special ability is cancelled out, and it gains 400 attack points!"

Dakini cried out triumphantly as her attack points were increased to 3600.

"Now Dakini! Counterattack!" called Hazel.

Dakini dragged her swords through the Wicked Dreadroot, leaving two huge, glowing scars across its chest. Then Dreadroot shattered into pixels, and Yako fell back, his life points at 2100.

"And don't forget my Djinn's special ability!" added Hazel. "You have to discard a card from your hand!"

Yako smiled. "My pleasure," he said, sliding Machine Lord Ur into his graveyard.

Both Hazel and Gekko blanched. _Yako just lost the Wicked Dreadroot, and he's not even worried?_, thought Gekko in shock. _Has he lost it too?_

"I place one card facedown, and end my turn," said Yako, sliding a card into his disk. The backed hologram shimmered into place, and Dakini's attack points returned to 3200.

"This is the last turn, Tenma!" yelled Hazel, drawing.

"I wonder how many times you'll say that before this duel is over?" asked Yako sarcastically.

Hazel seethed. "Let's see whether you're laughing after I take your soul!" she yelled. "Dakini, get him!"

The Cyber Angel lunged, and Yako reacted, touching the button on his duel disk. "I activate the Yellow Alert trap card!" he declared. "Now I can summon a monster from my hand in defence mode to shield me!" He selected his card. "I choose Agathion!" he declared, placing the card into his disk. (600/500) An orange, flame-like familiar appeared, giggling.

Dakini sliced it to pieces, and Hazel laughed. "Dakini inflicts damage through defence, Tenma!" she explained. "You're done!"

But when the smoke from the destroyed familiar cleared, Yako's life points hadn't changed a bit.

"What?" asked Hazel.

"When Agathion battles, any damage that I would take from a piercing attack is reduced to zero," explained Yako.

Hazel ground her teeth. "I activate the spell card, Heaven's Lost Property!" she said. "Now we both draw three cards and discard two from our hands."

Both of them drew, keeping their faces impassive, and slid their cards into the graveyard.

Hazel smiled. "I summon Cyber Tutu in defence mode," she said. The pink haired ballerina appeared, kneeling and groaning as the Seal empowered her to 1500 attack points. "Then I end my turn," she said. Hazel panted. _Jeez. This duel is taking a lot out of me. But Tenma's still fine because the lazy slime hasn't been dueling for a whole day!_

"My turn," said Yako, drawing. Contrary to Hazel's beliefs, he was pretty tried as well. He wasn't showing it, but summoning the Wicked Dreadroot had taken a lot out of him. His vision flickered briefly as he placed the card he'd drawn into his disk, and slid two cards from his graveyard. "I remove my Beast King Barbaros and my Machine Lord Ur to summon the almighty Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur!" he declared. (3800/1200)

A grey version of Barbaros with a blond mane appeared, clutching red armoured cannons, and flanked by scarlet armour.

_No,_ thought Hazel. _I've lost. _

"Barbaros Ur!" yelled Yako. "Destroy Cyber Angel Dakini! Crag Shot!"

Barbaros Ur fired twin blasts of energy at Dakini, ripping it apart.

Hazel braced herself – and nothing happened.

"Unfortunately, Barbaros Ur cannot inflict damage when it attacks," admitted Yako, sliding a card into his disk. "So I'll end my turn with this facedown card."

Hazel was _not _amused, although Gekko had let his cool facade slip to chuckle at her. Sh drew, and her eyes lit up again. "First I sacrifice Cyber Tutu to bring out Cyber Prima!" she cried. (2300/1600) The grey suited dancer sprang onto the field, attack points increasing to 2800.

"It's still not strong enough to take out Barbaros Ur," commented Yako. _Although I'd wager that she's prepared to surpass Barbaros Ur this turn._

"I play the spell card, Shrink!" called Hazel, playing the spell. "This halves the attack points of your monster!"

Barbaros Ur shrank in size as its attack points became 1900.

"I play the trap card, Card of Last Will!" declared Yako. "Since the attack points of one of my monsters decreased, I'm allowed to draw until I hold five cards!" He drew four cards with a confident flourish, and looked them over, and then blanched.

Hazel giggled. "Bad hand?" she asked. "Cyber Prima, attack and destroy Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur!" she declared.

Prima charged forwards and lashed out with a powerful kick, shattering the Beast Machine King and dropping Yako to 1200 life points.

Yako screamed as the force of the blow slammed him into the Seal of Orichalcos, and he hit the ground painfully.

"Yako!" cried Gekko in shock.

Hazel grinned, and slid a card into her disk. "I play one card facedown and end my turn," she said.

Yako drew reluctantly. "Miss Valentine – Hazel," he said. "Please understand that I don't want to take your soul," he said. "But if I have to, I will." Black smoke began to run across his body.

Gekko froze. "No Yako!" he yelled. "Don't summon that monster!"

"What monster?" asked Hazel casually.

"I play The Warrior Returning Alive to add Daybreaker from my graveyard to my hand," said Yako. He slid the card out of his graveyard and added it to his hand. "Next I activate Monster Reborn!" he called. "I use it to bring back Daybreaker!" The scarlet caped ivory knight appeared, swinging its sword. "With this, as Daybreaker was specially summoned, I can summon another from my hand!" declared Yako, placing the card onto his disk. Another Daybreaker appeared. "And since _that_ Daybreaker was also specially summoned, I bring out the third!" The third Daybreaker sprang onto the field. Yako held up his next card. "Now look and despair at what you should never have had to see, Hazel!" he called. "I sacrifice my three Daybreakers to summon the Wicked Avatar!"

The three Daybreakers vanished, forming a black spot that expanded into a dark sphere roughly two meters in diameter. (?/?)

Hazel looked up at the new Wicked God monster. _What on earth is _that_ thing?_, she wondered in shock.

"Now the Wicked Avatar takes on the form of the strongest monster on the field!" declared Yako. "And then it surpasses that monster but just a single attack point!"

Avatar broke into swirls of smoke, reforming into a black suited dancer. (2801/2801)

"Why you – you're copying my Cyber Prima?" asked Hazel angrily.

"Wicked Avatar!" yelled Yako, clenching his fist, ignoring the whispers in his mind. "Attack Cyber Prima!"

The Wicked God lunged out with a kick, and Hazel reacted. "I activate the trap card, Enchanted Javelin!" she called. "When you attack, I gain life points equal to the attack points of your monster!"

Hazel glowed with light as her life points increased to 3801. Then the attack connected, shattering Cyber Prima and dropping Hazel to 3800 life points.

_Good,_ thought Yako. _Now I've got some time to formulate a way to get rid of the Seal of Orichalcos. _"With now other monsters on the field, the Wicked Avatar will revert to its base form-" and he broke off, looking in shock at the form of the Wicked Avatar.

All over the globe, a gigantic black serpent was crawling across the skies. People watched it in horror, knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't good. The Great Leviathan was awakening, and it was almost ready.

But in Japan, in the sky that night, even the Great Leviathan shied away from what happened in the skies.

A black serpent dominated the skies, but this was not the Leviathan.

Even the Leviathan feared this creature.

**I'm pretty sure that you should be able to figure out what's happening here. If you can't, I'll give you a hint. Or you can wait for the next chapter. It depends on how many reviews I get. **

**What can I say? I'm a haggler?**

**Sigh. God I love this chapter.**

**Ah, whatever, please review!**


	21. In the Sky that Night Part 3

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**The duel is heating up. Yako has the Wicked Avatar out, the very card that drove him to kidnap Tea and start the R.A. Project, and Hazel is defenceless. **

**Praise be the reviews! They're what got me motivated to churn this out quickly. You guys are all amazing, I know I say it so much that it can lose meaning, but I mean it sincerely. **

**Anyway, onto the duel…**

**K5Rakitan: Thank you, and yes, I will!**

**Youngbountygirl: I already answered, but…beginning of chapter please!**

**China Smith: Thanks! Updating VERY soon, and well…chapter, answer her question!**

_In the Sky that Night Part 3_

Yako, Gekko, and Hazel all gaped in shock at the gigantic black serpent hovering above them.

Gekko was the first to speak. "Just…how big is that thing? And what is it?"

"The Great Leviathan," whispered Hazel in shock, Seal glowing on her forehead, eyes glowing green briefly. "He slithers across the sky. His awakening is near."

"That's what you're trying to unleash?" asked Gekko in horror. "That thing dwarfs even a God monster!"

"Except for one," said Yako. "Because that monster isn't the Great Leviathan." His voice shook as the whispers in his head grew louder. "It's the Wicked Avatar."

Then the voices rose, and he screamed, and screamed again as the pressure from the voices intensified, driving him to his knees. Above him, the Wicked Avatar roared, sonic waves driving everyone back – and waking up everyone else in the city at the same time

"Yako!" yelled Gekko. "Yako!" He thought furiously. "Talk to me Yako!" he yelled. "Why is the Wicked Avatar taking on the form of the Leviathan? There's no monsters on the field, so the Wicked Avatar should be in its dark sun form!"

Yako struggled for a moment, looking Gekko in the eye. "Gekko…you remember my duel with Yugi Muto, don't you. What the Avatar did that night?"

Gekko's mouth almost fell open. "You reflected Yugi with Fiend's Sanctuary…and the Wicked Avatar took his form, even though there was a stronger monster on the field…"

Yako nodded. "My greatest folly…" he whispered.

"_Prepare to face the wrath of your own Avatar! The wrath of the boy who secretly hates you and your shape! _

"But this is even worse…" whispered Yako, closing his eyes. "It's not that the Wicked Avatar is mimicking the Leviathan…it's mimicking the power contained within the Seal of Orichalcos itself!" He trembled as he got to his feet again. "With strength like that…I might not be able to control it."

"No, you shan't," declared a crisp, ancient voice.

The Tenma twins gasped as the image of a tall man appeared above the duel. A man known to all of those present, with long flowing aqua coloured hair, garbed in heavy tan robes, with a gold eye and a green eye.

"You use the power of a force of evil," declared the man. "This Wicked God monster is not a real God, and yet it has the power of one through the strength and concept of an _idea_. And now your consorting with its evil is punishing you, Mr. Tenma."

Yako gritted his teeth. "You…" he said. "Dartz, the president of Paradius."

"I'm honoured," remarked Dartz sarcastically, smiling.

There was a roar from the Wicked Leviathan form of the Wicked Avatar as it saw Dartz. Dartz looked up at the Wicked God and smiled. "Look at that creature. The Orichalcos has exposed the darkness in its heart – darkness that is total and complete."

"No it isn't," said Yako, looking Dartz in the eye. "The only reason the Wicked Gods are just that is because their darkness is mine…" he said. "I left that darkness behind after Yugi Muto destroyed it…"

"And yet, it was still able to trick you into thinking that you had destroyed the Wicked God cards," commented Dartz with a dry chuckle.

"Maybe that was for the best," said Yako. "I'm cursed to guard these cards – or blessed to do something like that in the time I spend imprisoned in this building!" He clenched his fist. "Leave now!" he yelled, sweeping his arm back. "Let's get back to the duel!"

"Master Dartz?" asked Hazel nervously.

"Don't worry, Miss Valentine," Dartz reassured her. "Tenma won't wipe out your life points as long as the eternal Seal of Orichalcos is on the field. He does not wish to claim your soul. Take advantage of that. Defeat the Wicked Gods! You've beaten them twice already."

With that, the image of Dartz disappeared with a last high laugh.

Yako clenched his fist. "My turn's over Hazel," he said. He looked across the field at his opponent. "Hazel?"

Hazel didn't answer, just drawing her card mechanically, looking at it, and trembling.

This went on for about a minute before Gekko sighed. "Yako, let's just skip her turn. If she has any objections, she can voice them."

Hazel didn't speak, but she looked up defiantly.

Yako drew, and a fresh wave of noise cascaded through his head. "Ack!" he groaned. _No…I just need one more turn_, he thought desperately. He added the card to his hand. _Mystical Space Typhoon…,_ he thought. He selected another card. "I activate the spell card, Pot of Avarice!" he said. "By returning five monsters from my graveyard to my deck, I can draw two cards!" he declared. "I select my Daybreakers, Summoner Monk, and the Wicked Dreadroot!" he said, holding up the five cards. He slotted one at a time into his deck, shuffling after each card, and then placed his deck back into his disk and drew two new cards.

_He keeps on going…,_ thought Hazel. _Then I will too!_

"I summon Shining Angel in attack mode!" declared Yako, placing the card on his disk.

A four winged, muscular angel appeared. (1400/900)

"The Wicked Avatar mimics the form of my Angel!" said Yako. He looked up at the gigantic black serpent. "Well?" he asked. "Are you going to stop wasting your time up there and get back down here, then?"

The Wicked Avatar roared, but it was already reforming into a black Shining Angel. (1401/1401)

"Now, Shining Angel, attack directly!" called Yako. The angel charged forward and kicked out, dropping Hazel to 2400 life points. Hazel clutched her stomach with a groan of pain.

Yako closed his eyes. _I'm sorry_, he thought. "Wicked Avatar, attack her directly!" he yelled.

The black angel dived forward and hit Hazel with a double-footed kick.

Hazel screamed in pain, thrown to the floor, her life points decreasing to 999.

She got to her feet glaring at him. "That all you got?" she asked.

Yako looked at her, and then he slid a card into his disk. "I play one card facedown and end my turn," he said. The backed hologram shimmered into view.

Hazel drew, brimming with confidence. "My turn!" she yelled with new intensity. "I summon Cyber Gymnast!" she cried, placing the card sideways onto the scythe zone of her disk.

A powerfully built masked woman appeared, wearing a purple jumpsuit, and then crouched before Hazel. (800/1800) The Seal appeared in her head, boosting her to 1300 attack points.

Gekko was impressed. "Good defence," he remarked. "The Wicked Avatar takes on the highest attack strength on the field, but if the defence strength of a monster is higher than that, even the Wicked Avatar can't take it down."

"Next I play Card of Demise!" declared Hazel. "I draw until I have five cards, but in five turns I lose my whole hand!" She drew the cards with a flourish, and smiled. "I discard this one," she said, sliding one into the graveyard. "That activates Cyber Gymnast's special ability, allowing me to destroy one monster in attack mode that you control! So say goodbye to Shining Angel!"

Yako gasped as Cyber Gymnast charged into Shining Angel, and the angel shattered. The Wicked Avatar quickly reformed into a black Cyber Gymnast. (1301/1301)

"I play a card facedown. That will end my turn," said Hazel, slotting the card into her disk.

Yako drew again, and suddenly gave a cry of pain. Black smoke began to shroud his body, and he looked at his card through his blurry vision.

"_Yako,"_ declared a voice. _"Yako."_

All of a sudden, Yako was back in the desert of black sand, and his black doppelganger was standing in front of him.

"_You have no choice, Yako," _whispered the Wicked Avatar. _"Accept me. Let me into your heart again."_

"No," said Yako, shaking his head. "I will not be the avatar of your vengeance!"

The Wicked Avatar snarled and vanished again in a spray of dark sand.

Yako returned to reality with a gasp, looking at his drawn card. _I control my fate!_, he declared in his mind, knowing that the Wicked Avatar could hear him. He slotted the card into his disk. "I play the spell card Star Shuffle!" he called. "With this spell I can sacrifice a monster from the field, and switch with a random one in the graveyard that has the same level!" He sifted through his graveyard. "I only have one ten star monster in my graveyard," he said.

Hazel froze. _When did it get there?_, she thought. _No, wait! He must have discarded that card when I played Heaven's Lost Property! Oh, this is bad…_

"I sacrifice the Wicked Avatar!" yelled Yako.

The Wicked Avatar emitted a screech, and returned to its dark sun form, before shattering. The pieces began to reform, blue fog wafting around the feet of the duelists. The form of a serpent appeared – gigantic, with sickly pink skin, small arms, dark wings, and a monstrous head, twin blades framing its fiendish face under its large beak. (?/?)

"Wicked Eraser!" yelled Yako. "Come forth!"

The Wicked God monster screeched, opening its beak.

Hazel grimaced, and braced herself.

"The Wicked Eraser gains 1000 attack points for each of your cards," Yako reminded her. "With three cards, the Eraser has 3000 attack and defence points!"

_Good work!_, thought Gekko. _Not only can Yako get rid of her defence now, but he's set aside the temptation of the Wicked Avatar!_

_But attacking isn't my aim_, thought Yako. _I've brought back the Wicked Eraser for one purpose only! And the facedown card on my field is the key to this combination!_, he thought, raising his hand above his disk. _All right! Let's do this!_

"I reveal my facedown card!" called Yako, touching the button on his disk. "Mystical Space Typhoon! With this spell card, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field!" He looked Hazel in the eye. "And the card I'm choosing is…the Seal of Orichalcos!"

"What?" asked Gekko.

"What?!" yelped Hazel.

A lightning laced tornado appeared, tearing at the walls of the Seal of Orichalcos. But green light shone from the Seal, and tore the tornado to pieces.

Hazel sighed, and then burst out laughing, the Seal still glowing strong in her forehead. "I thought you had a plan when you played that card. Don't you remember that the Seal of Orichalcos is invincible?"

Yako ignored her. "Now…" he said. "This is it." He raised his arm into the sky. "I sacrifice the Eraser!" he declared.

"What?!" asked Hazel and Gekko in unison for the second time in so many minutes.

The Wicked Eraser screeched, and straightened its form. It began to turn black, until it shredded into black ash. A tornado with the remnants of the Wicked Eraser's head at the eye formed from the ash, and it began to tear at the field, burning through Cyber Gymnast and Hazel's facedown card.

All three of the group shielded themselves.

"What's going on?" asked Hazel through her arms.

"You know that when the Wicked Eraser goes to the graveyard it takes everything on the field with it," explained Yako. "But in addition to that, I can destroy it during my turn, thus triggering its special ability!"

The cloud of ash faded, but the Seal was still going strong.

Hazel burst out laughing. "Did you think the powers of the Wicked Eraser could destroy the Seal of Orichalcos?" she asked incredulously. "You can't destroy the Seal! It's invincible-" and then she stopped talking, breaking off in shock.

The Seal's dome-like barrier was shining. And a most astonishing phenomenon was happening to it.

It was cracking.

**I love doing this. Boo-yah!**

**And now I'm gonna leave you guys hanging, so sorry about that. I'm so evil.**

**You all saw my reasoning for Avatar's transformation, congratulations to those who guessed and were right. The idea was ripe for the picking for the Wicked Avatar to transform into the Great Leviathan. For some reason, some media articles refer to it as the "Grand Dragon Leviathan," which I think is freaking awesome.**

**Egads, I be rambling again. **

**So please review, everybody!**


	22. In the Sky that Night Part 4

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**I'm back! Sorry for the wait, everybody. And, sheesh, this fic is coming to an end extremely quickly. Ah well, all good things must come to an end…that sounds really arrogant, doesn't it? Anyway, I don't think that I have any more surprises left for you guys, we'll just have to end the duel, and see what happens, shan't we?**

**Oh, and before I forget, please do give GearfriedTheSynchro's story, New Beginnings, a look, if you haven't already.**

**Youngbountygirl: Yes and no. Don't forget, the Seal was able to control Obelisk the Tormentor (albeit, it put a hell of a strain on Gurimo) so in theory, it's stronger than Eraser as well.**

_In the Sky that Night Part 4_

Hazel stared open-mouthed at the Seal of Orichalcos as it began to crack.

"No," she whispered. "This can't be happening!"

Then the Seal in her forehead began to crack, and she screamed in pain.

"Hazel!" cried Yako in shock. "Hazel, hold on! Ride it out!"

There was a loud crack, and the dome of the Seal shattered. Green shards smashed to the ground and dissolved into sparkles of light, and the light in Hazel's eyes shattered as the Seal vanished from her forehead, and the light in the stone on her choker faded.

"It's gone…" said Gekko in surprise. "He really did it…" He cheered, despite how uncharacteristic it was for him. "You did it Yako!"

"Hazel, are you alright?" asked Yako as he started across the field towards her.

"Stay where you are!" yelled Hazel. She looked up at Yako fiercely. "I'm keeping this duel going, and I'm not stopping until I win!"

Yako was surprised, but held his ground. "You can capture my soul now. The Seal can only be used once every duel, or didn't you know that?" he said.

Hazel shook her head.

"I bet you just listened to what everyone told you about it too, didn't you?" said Yako angrily. "They told you it was invincible. And it is – once a turn, that is. But who would think to try it again, especially if they didn't know the writing of the card?"

"And just how do _you_ know what the Seal says?" asked Hazel.

"After Master Pegasus disappeared, I began my research into the mystic science system," said Yako. "It's an area of research involving the powers of the Millennium Items, and the higher powers that were connected to the game of Duel Monsters. And in one tablet, I found the inscription of the Seal. I pursued it under instructions from Master Pegasus after he returned, and I found an island used as a detention center – but what it was really used for was a soul trap. There were prisoners trapped there, with dueling being their only way out of the place. All but one ended up trapped." He closed his eyes, remembering the horror of the islands infirmary. "It wasn't hard to find a wayward card. I photographed the text, and I translated it. I only finished just in time, too." Yako opened his eyes. "Everyone! I know you cannot hear me, but I am obliged to apologize to all of you. For sacrificing you. For not avenging you in the manner some of you wish I should."

"Look, it wasn't your fault, now just get on with the duel!" called Hazel, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Yako looked up in surprise. _What?_, he thought. _She's…encouraging me?_

Hazel smiled a genuine smile. "Let's make this duel a good one, Yako!"

Down below, Gekko was equally surprised. _I certainly didn't expect this,_ he thought to himself. _The fate of the world is uncertain, and Yako is still settling the duel now._

_She called me by my first name_, observed Yako. _But she's not getting out of this that easily. _"I have no moves left this turn," declared Yako. "Make your move."

Hazel drew enthusiastically. "Alright!" she said. "I play the Pot of Avarice spell card! Now I shuffle these five monsters into my deck, and I draw two new cards," she said, holding up her two Blade Skaters, Cyber Tutu, Cyber Angel Dakini, and Cyber Prima. She slid them into her deck, shuffled thoroughly, and drew two cards. Then she slid another card into her disk. "Now I activate the spell card, Fusion Recovery!" she called. "I can return a monster that can be fused and a Polymerization from my graveyard to my hand!" She dug around in her graveyard, and pulled out two cards. "The monster that I'll choose is Etoile Cyber!"

_A fusion monster,_ thought Yako. _It must be coming. _

"I play Polymerization!" cried Hazel. "Now I fuse Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber to create Cyber Blader!"

The two women appeared, and swirled together into the dark haired, red suited skater. (2100/800)

"Now, Cyber Blader, attack directly!" yelled Hazel. The dancer charged, reaching out for Yako.

"I activate a monster ability from my hand!" declared Yako. "By summoning Battle Fader, I can end the battle this turn!" A monster that resembled a pendulum appeared, and swung its pendulum, sending out sonic waves that pushed Cyber Blader back.

Hazel pouted. "Aww, come on, Yako!" she protested.

Poor Yako sweatdropped at that remark. "Uhh, is it my turn now?" he asked. "Hazel?"

Hazel winked at him. "Sure," she said slyly.

Yako winced. _What is she doing?... _He drew his card, attempting to keep his composure, and blanched. _Well, I knew this would happen, I guess,_ he thought. He gritted his teeth and groaned.

"Hey, you alright?" asked Hazel.

"Fine," replied Yako through gritted teeth. He selected another card in his hand. "I sacrifice Battle Fader to summon Gaap the Divine Soldier!" he declared.

Battle Fader vanished, and a new monster appeared, a purple fiend with a set of wing-like arms in addition to its normal arms. (2200/2000)

"I activate his special ability!" declared Yako. "Once per turn, I can reveal any number of God monsters in my hand and increase Gaap's attack strength by 300 points for each one!" He flipped the card around. "I have this one," he said, holding up the Wicked Dreadroot. "Gaap gains 300 attack points, for a total of 2500."

Gaap glowed as his attack points rose.

"Now, Gaap, get her!" declared Yako. "Attack Cyber Blader!"

Gaap lunged for Cyber Blader, slashing it with its larger pair of arms, but Cyber Blader held on, even as Hazel's life points decreased to 599.

"I place one card facedown," said Yako, slotting the card into his disk. The backed hologram shimmered into view. "Then I end my turn."

Hazel drew her card. "One way or another, this is going to be my last turn, Yako," she said.

Yako looked into her eyes and nodded. "I believe you," he said softly. "And Hazel. I won't stop you from returning to Dartz. I only hope that if you do, you do so of your own free will."

Hazel nodded. "Gotcha," she said. She placed the card that she had drawn onto her duel disk. "I summon Cyber Tutu!" she called. The pink haired ballerina leapt out onto the field again with a twirl. "And since your monsters have more attack points than mine, she gets to wallop you with a direct attack!"

Yako opened his mouth to say that he knew what the card did, but then the foot of Cyber Tutu slammed into his midsection, and he winced as his life points dropped to 200.

Hazel smiled, and slotted a card into her disk, looking at the disk with distaste for the first time. "I play a card facedown and end my turn," she said.

"Then it's my turn!" yelled Yako, drawing a card dramatically. He looked at the card, and a feral grin spread across his face. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" he declared. "Now we both draw until we hold six cards!" They both drew, looking at each other, trying to spot something in the other's eyes, but neither duelist gave anything away.

Suddenly, black smoke spread across Yako's vision, and he screamed in pain. "Hazel…forgive me!" he cried.

"Yako, no!" yelled Gekko. "Don't go back now!"

"Next I play Pot of Greed, and I draw two more cards," said Yako, drawing. "Then I play another spell card, Monster Reincarnation!" called Yako. "This allows me to discard a card, and return a monster from the graveyard to my hand!" He discarded the Wicked Dreadroot. "I trade one Wicked God card for another!" he howled, as he held up the Wicked Avatar. "Then I'll play Photon Lead, and summon a light attribute monster from my hand!" He selected his card. "I summon Daybreaker!" he yelled. _Again_ the ivory, scarlet caped knight sprang onto the field. "And since I summoned Daybreaker through special means, I can summon another from my hand!" A second knight appeared beside the first. "And now out comes Daybreaker number three!" declared Yako. The third knight appeared. "I now sacrifice all three Daybreakers to summon the Wicked Avatar!" declared Yako.

Above Yako, the three knights compressed into a black spot that expanded into a sphere two meters in diameter. The Wicked Avatar hovered above the field, restored in all its glory.

_Yako…,_ whispered the voice in his ear, but Yako had had enough. "You want me to use your power?" he asked. "Then work with me. You've seen the power that her side wields – power that we must stop. Together."

There was no reply, but Yako sensed a strange feeling of approval from the Wicked God monster.

_I'll take that as a yes, then,_ thought Yako. He raised his arm. "I'm well aware that Cyber Blader's attack points are doubled while I control two monsters," he said. "But you know that the Wicked Avatar surpasses all monsters. It gains their attack points plus one," he reminded her. Avatar shimmered and morphed into a black Cyber Blader. (4201/4201)

Yako raised his hand. _Sorry,_ he thought. "Wicked Avatar, attack Cyber Blader!" he yelled.

The Wicked God monster charged and sliced through Cyber Blader. Hazel felt a prick of pain as her life points decreased to 598.

"Gaap, now it's your turn!" yelled. "Attack Cyber Tutu!" he yelled.

Gaap lunged, claws reaching out for the terrified Cyber Tutu.

"I'm gonna lose, but I'll take you with me!" yelled Hazel. "I play the spell card, Contagion of Madness. Now we both take the battle damage!" she declared.

But Yako looked unperturbed. "I'm sorry, Hazel," he said. "But that's not going to happen."

Hazel froze.

"I activate the trap card, Magic Jammer!" declared Yako. "By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can put a stop to that spell card!"

He discarded his last card, and purple smoke stifled Hazel's spell card.

"No!" yelled Hazel.

_Yako has won…on his own terms,_ thought Gekko. _On his own terms and he managed to use the Wicked God cards as well._

Gaap's attack continued, slicing poor Cyber Tutu in two, and the backlash dropped Hazel's life points to zero.

Hazel fell to her knees, panting for a few seconds. Then she looked up, and saw Yako holding out his hand. She took it gratefully. "Thanks," she said.

"It's no problem," Yako reassured her. "Now, I believe I asked you to leave if I won," he said.

Hazel shrugged. "I guess," she said.

"Would you mind showing Hazel out, Gekko?" asked Yako.

Gekko stepped forward. "I'll do that, but then you and I are going to have a talk," he said.

Yako looked at Gekko in surprise, but then he saw the warmth in his twin brother's eyes. "Of course," he said.

Gekko thumbed towards the elevator. "Come on," he said.

Hazel followed him in, and the door closed behind them.

Yako closed his eyes, feeling the rays of dawn warming his face, and feeling at peace, somehow.

. .

"So, I guess this is goodbye," remarked Hazel.

Gekko gave her a filthy look. "Don't pretend what you've done is behind you, Miss Valentine," he warned her. "Still, I know that you know what you did."

Hazel nodded, and took out four Seal of Orichalcos cards. She handed them to Gekko. "I don't know how to release them," she said. "I'm sorry, I truly am."

"What will you do now?" asked Gekko.

Hazel hung her head. "I'm going back to Dartz's," she admitted.

"What? Why?" asked Gekko.

"My sister's there," said Hazel. "You know what I mean."

Gekko's heart tightened. "Trust me, I know what you're going through," he said. "And I assume that there's someone else?" he asked.

Hazel looked at him in surprise. "Wh-what makes you say that?" she asked in surprise.

Gekko almost burst out laughing. "Your expression just now, for one thing," he said. He held out his hand. "Safe travels," he said.

Hazel shook his hand. "Thank Yako for me, will you?" she asked. "I didn't deserve to be spared after what I did."

"Nonsense," said Gekko. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

Hazel smiled, and stepped out the door. She vanished into the darkness, leaving Gekko standing there.

And then he heard a click. "Door sealed," intoned a voice.

Gekko looked up in surprise. "What?" he protested.

"_It's not me,"_ said Yako. _"Paradius must have hacked into the system this entire time, while we were occupied." _He sighed. _"We both won victories tonight. But we aren't getting out of here unless they let us out."_

**There we go. And now, to answer to everyone that reviewed.**

**Youngbountygirl: Thanks for praising me, and showing me your own story with the twins. I'm glad that I pointed out things that you wanted me to point out.**

**China Smith: Hope you liked the duel, and yeah, I updated extremely quickly.**

**K5Rakitan: Thanks for reviewing from the start, and for the praise. **

**Cosmic Kiss: Thanks for letting me use Hazel. If I've portrayed her wrongly, feel free to beat me over the head and change the parts I screwed up with.**

**Sapphire Kitty and Kicking Cherries: Update soon? Very soon. So soon. I love updating soon. Soon is almost my middle name – except it's not.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: Team Gekko indeed. You'll notice, of course, that he maintains his level of awesome the whole time – no idiotic screw-ups like when he duelled against Richie here.**

**GearfriedTheSynchro: Oh boy, when they step up their game, they step up their game. Hope to see you update soon!**

**And…General Krull: Not sure if you were trolling, but what the heck. I hate electricity questions.**

**Thanks all! **

**Sanokal.**


	23. Tension in the Air!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**I wonder how many of you I fooled into thinking that this story was over? Then again, with the abruptness that I ended it with…I'm an idiot sometimes. **

**Hopefully this'll all be finished within the next few weeks. And you all know how it goes, review, and things will happen quickly. Like updates. I have this all scripted out, so really, time is money. That's how it goes. Yeah, I'm selfish. Sorry. **

**Anyway, hopefully this will be a BIG wham moment. I love those.**

**Youngbountygirl: Good to know that you enjoyed this. Hah-hah, yeah, the Wicked Avatar is a boss.**

**Cosmic Kiss: Again, thank you. Soon. Very soon. And I finally got over the indecision, and kinda cheated to do both scenarios in this chapter.**

_Tension in the Air!_

The Worm Drake snarled as it launched itself at Gekko Tenma.

"Angel O7!" yelled Gekko, pointing at the snake-like monster, and the marble angelic statue blasted a beam of light at the Worm Drake, shattering it. A pair of Gilasaurs sped for Gekko, and Angel O7 swerved around and fired two quick blasts of energy, blowing both dinosaurs to bits.

A Leogun leapt at Gekko, only for Angel O7 to coolly put it down with an Angel Beam Buster.

Back-to-back with his twin, Yako Tenma glared at the oncoming horde of Duel Monsters. "Barbaros, get them!" yelled Yako angrily. "Tornado Shaper!"

Beast King Barbaros swept its lance through a line of Zombie-Type monsters, and they groaned and withered, only to come right back, regenerating their torn flesh.

"Gekko, these zombies just won't give up!" warned Yako. He placed another card on his duel disk. "Machine Lord Ur!" he called. A scarlet and white machine with large cannon-like arms appeared. "Blast them!" ordered Yako. Ur raised its arms and fired, shattering the first wave of zombies.

A Dragon Zombie roared, exhaling putrid breath. Ur crumbled into rubble, but got off one last blast, destroying the offending zombie.

Barbaros bellowed furiously, as Yako clutched his chest. He groaned in anguish. "We're losing our life energy…" he grimaced. "First we get locked in the building, and then these Duel Monsters start showing up."

"Less talk, more action, Yako!" yelled Gekko. "There's nothing for it, erase these things!"

Yako nodded sadly, looking out over the city sky. He brought out a smoking card, and placed it into his disk. Blue fog began to waft across the rooftop.

Even the undead withdrew in terror when the gigantic form of the Wicked Eraser appeared. The Eraser gained strength based on the quantity of its foes, and with so many before it, they had not a hope in destroying it.

"Digestive Breath," whispered Yako, and the Eraser's beak cranked open and launched the stream of liquid energy at the monsters. One after another was shattered as it moved the stream across their ranks, erasing large swathes with ease.

A group of purple clothed fiends levelled their scythes and blocked the attacks, with even the acidic power of the Eraser not destroying them.

Eraser growled, and increased the intensity of the beam. The Spirit Reapers held their ground, withstanding the force of the Wicked God monster.

Yako gritted his teeth. _We've been fighting all day…_, he thought. _Slowly, but surely, they've pushed up to the top of the building…_

Suddenly, the sky rumbled, and green light erupted from the rumbling clouds. Shards of crystal rained down all over the city, with a heavy hail heading for the Industrial Illusions building.

"Get down!" yelled Yako, tackling Gekko down.

But it was no use. Crystal filled their vision – and then it was replaced by sickly pink coils.

The crystal shards bounced off the skin of the Wicked Eraser, and the Wicked God monster screeched in pain.

"Yako," asked Gekko. "Is the Eraser protecting us?"

"I think so," replied Yako.

_By your word, we serve you in this night of nights, and banish the darkness,_ declared Yako's own voice in his head. _Call us. Now._

Yako gritted his teeth again, and his hand moved to his duel disk. He placed two cards on his disk, and two more beams of energy blasted into the sky.

The Eraser moved its coils aside, and Yako and Gekko looked out to see an army of soldiers in grey armour, with scythe-like blades attached to each wrist, the Seal of Orichalcos glowing in their foreheads.

_Orichalcos Soldiers_, thought Yako. _The legends spoke of these – an unlimited army to do the bidding of their controller. Dartz. _

The Orichalcos Soldiers looked formidable before any monster, even ones as mighty as Barbaros and Angel O7.

But even they were powerless against the three monsters that hovered behind Yako and Gekko.

The sickly-pink draconic serpent, the Wicked Eraser.

The aqua-skinned, bone armoured fiend, the Wicked Dreadroot.

And a black-skinned draconic serpent, the Wicked Avatar.

"Wicked Gods," said Yako. "Destroy them. Dartz planned to bury us in the bodies of his minions. But we'll send him a welcoming gift."

All three Wicked God monsters roared at the Orichalcos Soldiers. Unbowed, the Soldiers charged into the sky, slicing at the God monsters, and in turn, the Wicked Gods responded with energy beams and strikes of their large limbs.

. .

Dartz smiled. "Orichalcos Soldiers, return!" he declared.

. .

All over the world, the Orichalcos Soldiers that terrorized the populace turned into green streaks of light, and flooded to one location – the Asian Industrial Illusions building.

Yako could only look up in shock. "How many?" he asked.

The figure of Dartz appeared in midair, though he was slightly transparent. "All of them," said Dartz with a smile.

Dreadroot shattered a pair of Orichalcos Soldiers with twin brutal strikes. Behind him, Eraser coiled up and uncoiled just as quickly, unleashing a Digestive Breath that burned through a score of the Soldiers. When another dozen dodged another attack, Dreadroot swiped its hand through them almost casually.

"Let them be infinite," said Yako. "Let them be the size of the Wicked Gods. They cannot beat the Wicked God monsters, so powerful that they brought a concept to life and created divinity." He clenched his fist and a black serpent rose up behind Dartz. "Your Leviathan cannot defeat the Wicked Avatar!"

Dartz smiled as the image of the Great Leviathan roared behind him.

Behind Yako, the Wicked Avatar, in the shape of the Wicked Eraser, screeched in reply.

"Are you sure, Yako?" asked Dartz. "Then this shall be the first place I visit after the Great Leviathan rises, once I have collected the souls of the Pharaoh, Seto Kaiba and Joseph Wheeler."

Yako and Gekko gasped. "That's what you've been doing?" asked Yako.

"Indeed," said Dartz. "I took the powers of the Gods of Egypt, and used them to fuel the Great Leviathan. But I needed the souls of the three Chosen Duelists to awaken him in all his glory."

"But in case that didn't work…" whispered Gekko.

"I decided to secure the Wicked Gods as well, yes," Dartz admitted.

Yako clenched his fists. "If you're so prepared to commit so many atrocities, why don't you just use your own soul?" he yelled. "I've seen the carvings! You're ancient!"

Dartz gave Yako a slight look of confusion as he pondered the idea.

"It never occurred to the Orichalcos to power itself, did it?" snarled Yako. "Of course not."

Dartz smiled. "And yet, now, I have a contingency strategy," he said. "While you cling to a false hope that Gods of wickedness and evil can save humanity from its own evils. The only way to save this world is to cleanse it."

"You'll have to go through us," warned Gekko.

Dartz laughed as he faded away, and the Orichalcos Soldiers continued their attack. "Oh, gentlemen, of that I have no doubt."

Yako closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up. Tears for all the lives that Dartz had destroyed ran down his cheeks, and he howled orders at the Wicked Gods as they shattered Soldier after Soldier with ease in a never-ending stream.

. .

Yako opened his eyes. The clean white ceiling above him could not have been any different from the sky that night. Shaking his head, he wiped his sweaty brow, and picked himself out of bed.

"It's been too long since that night," he whispered to himself. "That awful, awful time…"

He remembered protecting Gekko with the coils of the Eraser. He remembered the Wicked Dreadroot being brought to its knees by the sheer numbers of the Orichalcos Soldiers, and the Wicked Avatar shredding the legions.

And he remembered the helplessness.

Yako shook his head. The only reason they had survived was because the power of the Orichalcos had been destroyed by Yugi.

And he still wondered what fate had befallen Hazel Valentine. Where was she? Had she stayed loyal to Paradius until the end, and fought alongside Dartz's minions?

"I need to work," he muttered. He pulled on his clothes and walked out of the room, heading for the main office.

As he walked he could swear that the shadows were creeping along the walls beside him. It unnerved him, but with all that Yako had been through, he dismissed it as just another silly fear.

He reached his office, still thinking to himself. The windows were exposed to the night, and a storm was brewing in the distance.

_No wonder I woke up, with a storm like that_, thought Yako dryly. Then he stopped – he could see a figure standing in front of his desk.

There was a flash of lightning, and Yako caught a glimpse of a white-haired young man in a black trench coat.

When the next flash of lightning came, he was gone.

Yako would have looked around the room for him had it not been for the object that was now lying on his desk. It was a golden orb, the size of an eye, with an eye symbol engraved in it.

Yako stared at it in shock. "Master Pegasus' Millennium Eye!" he gasped.

A low chuckle echoed from the shadows. "Brings back memories, does it?" remarked a dry voice.

Yako swerved to his right, and in a fork of light, there stood the man he'd seen by his desk.

He was thin, clad in a black trench coat over a blue and white striped shirt, with long, crooked white hair. Around his neck, hung on a simple brown cord, was a golden ring, with the same eye symbol as the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Eye engraved upon it. Six pointers hung around the ring.

"I got that little trinket from your adoptive father, Pegasus, after the Duelist Kingdom tournament," commented the man. He grinned sadistically. "He was weakened after losing to Yugi."

Yako gaped in shock. "Th-then it was you who attacked Master Pegasus…" he stammered. "And I recognize that ring," he muttered, pointing at the ring around the man's neck. "It's a Millennium Item, isn't it? The Millennium Ring."

The man nodded in agreement. "You were right about something else, though," commented the man. "It was because Yugi defeated him that he disappeared."

"Don't turn me against Yugi," warned Yako, head down and fists clenched. "All of what I did was due to the lies of Bandit Keith…but the act that started it…it was committed by _you_." He looked up, and the man took a step back in surprise at the intensity in Yako's eyes. "_What is your name!?"_ yelled Yako.

The white-haired man grinned. "You can just call me Bakura, Mr Tenma."

**BOOM. Heh-heh-heh. I bet no-one saw this coming. I knew that I was going to do this the moment I decided to novelise R. I didn't think that I'd do the entirety of this fic at that time though. **

**And I do want to write using Bakura, seeing as he'll be one of the big villains in Dissidia, and I need the practice. Plus, he's pretty awesome. He holds his own pretty well when he duels, and without any sacred cards either (unless you count Diabound). **

**But why is he here, hmm? So, what do you guys think? Tell me!**

**Please review. It makes me happy.**


	24. Sustained by Hate! Part 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**Okay, the above title seems a bit unimportant now, I will admit. And here we have the REAL climax to this fic. I know, I'm an evil beggar. Sorry.**

**I'm not sure when updates will be happening, on account of the mid-semester tests coming up, and the need to study really getting into gear. So things will probably move slow. Sorry all. **

**But hey, these last few chapters should be entertaining. It depends on how much taunting and Shadow magic Yami Bakura pulls out of his sleeve. **

**Youngbountygirl: Yeah, I do agree. In the manga, there definitely would have been some cameras (though for the sake of arguing, Yami Bakura probably could have destroyed them if he felt the need to.) In the anime, Pegasus likely wouldn't have had cameras in his quarters at that point, as he had the Eye. Project R.A was actually about using the Wicked Gods to revive Pegasus, Yako just wanted to make sure the process (as there was more data containing a "copy" of Pegasus' soul in the Duel Server) worked better than it did on Bandit Keith (although he was pretty unhinged already). As for policemen, Yako did have Kemo and the other suits, not to mention that as long as they were getting paid enough, Willa (who's actually pretty strong for his size), Dixon and Richie likely could have taken care about that. Of course that wouldn't be much help against guns though. Then again, the police DO have to know about this. And by the end of his planning, Yako seemed to care more about hurting Yugi. **

**But yeah, a lot of it makes no sense. Especially the fact that Yami Bakura **_**never**_** appears.**

**I must look into that with Yako and Gekko. And what was that link about? I couldn't get it to work.**

_Sustained by Hate! Part 1_

Yami Bakura smiled malevolently at Yako Tenma as the adopted son of Maximillion Pegasuslooked at the spirit with hate in his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked angrily. "Why did you come here now, to taunt me? Is that what this all is?"

Bakura grinned even wider. "Hardly," he remarked. "That would be a complete waste of time. But leaving your Wicked God cards unchecked…that would be a grave mistake indeed," he said.

Yako grimaced. "You want to take the Wicked God cards from me?" he asked.

Bakura smiled fiendishly. "Perhaps," he said.

Yako looked at the man who had set him on the most shameful path of his life. His mouth set in a line, he said. "You know that I won't give them up without a fight."

Bakura's smile grew wider again. "My thoughts exactly," he said. His Millennium Ring glowed, and Yako found himself paralysed. Bakura laughed softly, and walked towards the desk.

But as he reached for the drawer, black smoke spurted out and threw him backwards into the wall. Bakura snarled in pain, and struggled to his feet. With his concentration broken, Yako lunged for the desk and grabbed the three stone blocks that he had sealed the cards in. The black smoke seared through the blocks, and the three cards sealed within emerged.

Wiping his face, Bakura cursed. "Plan B, then," he suggested. "The two of us duel on the top of your building. Here, and now."

Yako smiled his own shark-like grin. Even Bakura took a step back at that smile. "You'll regret that decision," warned Yako. He gritted his teeth, and forced the influence down.

Ten minutes later, the two combatants stood on top of the Asian Industrial Illusions, both with decks loaded in their duel disks.

"You'd better be ready," warned Yako, shifting his disk to dueling mode.

"Oh, I've been waiting for five-thousand years for such a battle," commented Bakura, activating his own disk.

Yako cocked his head. _What's that supposed to mean?_, he thought curiously.

Bakura smiled. "What's the matter, Tenma?" he asked.

Yako scowled. "Nothing!" he said hotly. "Now let's go! Time to duel!" he yelled.

Bakura drew his five cards gleefully, and Yako drew his with a focused expression on his face.

"I'll start this duel!" called Yako, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Summoner Monk in defence mode!" he called, placing the card horizontally on his duel disk. (800/1600) The purple and white robed monk appeared in a meditative position. "Next I'll activate his special ability!" added Yako. "By discarding one spell card," he said as he discarded De-Spell, "I can summon a four star monster from my deck!" he explained. He sifted through his deck, selected his card, and shuffled. "I call upon Seraphim Gardna, in defence mode!" he called. A heavily armoured angel in ivory appeared and knelt in front of Yako. (1000/2000) "That ends my turn," finished Yako.

"Then prepare to be dragged into the depths of the shadows!" declared Bakura, drawing.

Purple smoke began to waft around the field. Yako looked around in surprise as Bakura chuckled. "That's right Tenma, we're playing a Shadow Game now. And only one of us will walk away from this duel now!" Bakura's sadistic laughter filled the night sky.

"Let's continue!" he said. He placed a card on his duel disk. "I summon Goblin Zombie in attack mode!" he declared. (1100/1050) A black and tan zombie clutching a sword appeared with a screech. "But, seeing as both of your monsters have more defence points than my pawn can take on, I'll just place a card facedown and end my turn," said Bakura, slotting a card into his disk. The backed hologram shimmered into view.

Yako drew, surprised at Bakura's tactics. _He did this to Yugi Muto in Battle City…_, thought Yako. _Luring him with weak attacking monsters until he could unveil his real plans. But he must know that that strategy won't work on me…_ He selected a card. _I don't have any spell cards this turn, so I'll have to make do with this card!_, he thought, sliding it onto his disk. "I summon Shining Angel!" declared Yako. A four winged angel appeared in front of him. (1400/900)

"Shining Angel!" called Yako. "Attack Goblin Zombie!"

The angel charged for the zombie, and lashed out with a kick, shattering the zombie.

Then a mouthful of teeth erupted out of the ground and closed around Yako, and he gave a cry of pain as his life points decreased to 3500.

Bakura, his own life points at 3700, burst out laughing. "As you can see, I've activated the trap card known as Fearful Earthbound!" he said. "This continuous trap takes away 500 life points each time you attack me!" He sifted through his deck. "And when Goblin Zombie is destroyed," he added. "His special ability allows me to add a zombie from my deck to my hand with less than 1200 defence points," he explained. "I'll choose the 1050 defence power Goblin Zombie!"

Yako grimaced. _He's guaranteed himself a continuous supply of monsters for a few turns,_ he thought critically. He slotted a card underneath Shining Angel. "I'll play one card facedown and end my turn," he said.

Bakura drew his next card, chuckling darkly, and selected another card. "I'll summon my second Goblin Zombie!" he declared, placing the card on his disk. Another of the fiendish zombies reared up out of the ground. "Next I'll activate the spell card, The Dark Door!" added Bakura. "This card only allows us to attack once per turn!" he explained.

Yako cursed under his breath.

Bakura laughed at Yako's slight loss of composure, and gave him a mocking bow. "I'll end my turn with that, Tenma," he said. "Please, take your turn."

"You're too kind," replied Yako, drawing his card. _A spell card, Photon Veil. Excellent!_, he thought. He selected another card. "I summon Seraphim Saber!" he called. An long haired ivory armoured angel clutching a silver sword and wrapped in a blue cloak appeared, as Yako discarded Photon Veil. "Then, by discarding a spell card from my hand, I can activate the special ability of my Summoner Monk!" he declared. "I can summon a four star monster from my deck!" He sifted through his deck, and selected his card. "I summon Seraphim Blaster!" he called, and a duplicate of Seraphim Saber appeared, with a longer cloak and barrels of celestial bronze in place of its arms.

"Now the special abilities of each Seraphim will increase their attack and defence strengths for every other Seraphim on the field!" declared Yako. Blaster's attack points increased to 2400, Saber's to 2200, and Gardna's defence points rose to 2600.

"Monsters summoned by the effect of Summoner Monk cannot declare an attack during the turn they are summoned, so I'll have Seraphim Saber attack your Goblin Zombie!" declared Yako. The angel lunged and sliced the zombie in two.

Both duelists cried out in pain as the Shadow Game drained their strength, Bakura's life points decreasing to 2600, and Yako's to 3000. The teeth faded from Yako as Bakura reached for his deck.

"The special ability of Goblin Zombie activates!" declared Bakura. "I add a zombie with 1200 or less attack points from my deck to my hand. And I'll choose my third Goblin Zombie!" He added the card to his hand, and shuffled his deck. "Now it's my turn!"

He drew and looked across the field at Yako. _This fool still has no idea what I'm doing. Heh-heh, by the end of the night I'll have all the strength that I need. _Bakura placed the third Goblin Zombie card on his disk. "Once again, I summon Goblin Zombie to the field!" he declared. For the third time, the fiendish zombie appeared in attack mode. "Next I'll play one card facedown," declared Bakura. "And that will be all."

Yako drew, thinking to himself. _What is the purpose of this Shadow Game? The damage is definitely real, but it feels like my strength is being leeched and stored somewhere __else._ He shook his head and made his decision. "Seraphim Blaster attacks your Goblin Zombie!" he called. The angel raised its arms and blasted a torrent of holy light at the zombie, scorching it to shreds.

Bakura reacted, touching a button on his disk. "I play the Spirit Barrier trap card!" he called. "When I have a monster, I don't take any damage." He laughed as a barrier of spirits closed the gap between him and the residual light of Seraphim Blasters attack, deflecting it.

"You can't win, Tenma," said Bakura. "Surely you know that."

Yako smiled, and black smoke shrouded one arm. "Tell that to the Wicked God cards," he commented.

Bakura's grin grew wider, and he sifted through his deck. "With the effect of Goblin Zombie, I add Gernia from my deck to my hand," he declared.

Yako turned Shining Angel's card, and slid a card into his disk. "I switch Shining Angel into defence mode, place a card facedown and end my turn."

Bakura drew, and slapped a card onto his disk. "I'll set this monster card," he declared. "Then I'll play two cards facedown, and end my turn."

Yako drew, and smiled. The black smoke intensified, and Bakura made his move.

"I activate the trap card, Multiple Destruction!" he called. "Now we both discard our hands and draw five new cards. But, in exchange, I take 100 points of damage for every card I sent to the graveyard." Bakura gave a slight groan, but then he laughed as his life points dropped to 2000.

Yako snarled, and discarded his two cards – along with his drawn card, The Wicked Dreadroot.

"Did I hit something good?" asked Bakura, chuckling.

Yako just drew his next five cards – and he smiled.

Bakura took a step back at the feral grin on Yako's face.

"I sacrifice my three Seraphim!" declared Yako, holding up a card. Blue fog began to mix with the dark purple, and a black shape began to stir in its depths. "God who erases other Gods, come to me!" declared Yako. "I summon the Wicked Eraser!"

A gigantic sickly pink serpent rose up behind Yako, its small arms pawing at the air, and its gigantic beak reeking of death. (?/?)

Bakura smiled at the monster. "So this is the famous Wicked Eraser, hmmm?" he asked.

"The Wicked Eraser gains 1000 attack points for each card that you have on the field!" declared Yako. "Since you have five, it has 5000 attack and defence points!" The Wicked Eraser screeched as its attack points rose.

Bakura snorted, scowling. "Really?" he asked. "Not a very self-sufficient for a God monster," he said.

Yako growled in annoyance. _Why does everyone have to point that out each time?_, he thought irritably. "Wicked Eraser, attack that facedown monster with Digestive Breath!" he yelled.

The Eraser's beak cranked open, a horrible sucking sound echoed, and a column of liquid energy wore away Bakura's Eartbound Spirit. (500/2000)

The dark spirit shielded himself as the backlash washed over him. It didn't damage him, but he could feel the extraordinary pressure from the attack.

_Feel the pain you caused Pegasus, Bakura!_, thought Yako viciously.

**What you see is what you get. Has Bakura bitten off more than he can chew? After all, you never know how this will end. **

**Tell me what you think, and please review!**


	25. Sustained by Hate! Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos**

**A week for a little relaxing. Nah, I have to study. But in the wee hours before that, I'll get more of this done. If not all. It depends how big the – ah, screw it, this is the final chapter! Let's go! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed this story, your feedback encouraged me to keep going this entire time. It's really quite awesome that that's happened. And this seems to end on a flat note…hmm…**

**It's Yami Bakura vs. Yako Tenma. Bakura's ensured the demise of one Wicked God card, but at the cost of another one breathing down his neck (and with the breath this one has…)**

**But the entire time, Bakura has been drained Yako's life points with his trap cards, and already Yako's lost almost half of his original 4000…**

**Youngbountygirl: Realistically, unless it defeated Dreadroot and gained its effect, Diabound is pretty screwed vs. a Wicked God card, except maybe Eraser. But then again, Eraser would have the last laugh. **

**China Smith: Indeed. As for pulling the same trick he pulled with Yami Marik, Bakura is still being cautious, as he doesn't have that much knowledge of the Wicked Gods effects, and look at what happened last time. **

_Sustained by Hate! Part 2_

Yami Bakura growled as the last vestiges of the fragments of his Earthbound Spirit faded.

Yako stared him down, but any victory celebrations were cut short as the massive pair of jaws erupted from the ground around him and closed, inflicting a further 500 points of damage to Yako and decreasing his life points to 2000.

Yako gasped in pain as he felt more of his strength begin to drain. He shook his head angrily. _He hasn't even declared a single attack, and I've already lost half of my own life points,_ he thought. _We're both on 2000 life points... _

He straightened up, and gave Bakura a chilling look. "That's the end of my turn," he said. "And the Eraser goes down to 4000 attack points." The Wicked Eraser bristled as its strength shrank.

Bakura smiled, and drew his next card. He began to laugh at Yako. "When I played my Multiple Destruction card, I discarded a few fiend monsters," he chuckled. "In my hand I have a monster that requires a sacrifice of the spirits of three fiends." He placed the card into his disk. "By sacrificing three monsters from my graveyard, I can summon my Dark Necrofear!" he declared.

A bald-headed blue-skinned woman clad in dark leather appeared in a cloud of smoke, clutching a marionette. (2200/2800)

_Dark Necrofear,_ thought Yako. _Bakura's ace monster from the Battle City tournament. But he must know that it's powerless against a God monster. _

The Wicked Eraser screeched in agreement.

Bakura grinned. "I'll leave my turn at that," he said.

Yako blanched in surprise. _What?_, he thought in surprise. _He's ending his turn just like that?_ He looked at Bakura's eyes and shuddered. He didn't like the look in them. _He's completely confident that he can ride this out…_, thought Yako. He drew his card, thinking. _Ah, Bakura. You think that I will entrust my field to a Wicked God card, and that I would take the chance to deal a large amount of damage to you. _Yako raised his hand. _You would never expect me to do this. _

"Get ready, Bakura," declared Yako. "I sacrifice the Eraser!" he yelled.

Bakura's eyes opened wider in shock. "You what?" he asked in horror.

The Wicked Eraser looked at Yako angrily as it began to turn dark. Soon it had become a black, viscous ash cloud that burned and tore through Dark Necrofear and Summoner Monk.

"What's going on?" asked Bakura fearfully, looking around them.

"When the Wicked Eraser is destroyed, it takes everything else on the field with it!" declared Yako. "And I have the ability to destroy it during my turn!" He touched a button on his disk before the corresponding card could be destroyed. "And with the Jar of Greed trap card, I can draw another card!" he added. He drew as the last cards were wiped from the field, and the ash cloud faded.

_To think that monster could do something like that,_ thought Bakura grimly. _I _was _planning to power up Dark Necrofear with my facedown cards, but it doesn't matter. But now he's free to attack as much as he wants!_

"Next I'll summon this monster from my hand," declared Yako. "Beast King Barbaros!"

Yako's centaur-like lion appeared with a roar. (3000/1200)

"3000 attack points and no sacrifices?" asked Bakura.

"No," replied Yako. "In exchange for this summoning, my Beast King's attack points become 1900."

Barbaros growled as its strength shrank.

"Get him, Barbaros!" yelled Yako. "Attack directly! Tornado Shaper!"

Barbaros thrust its lance into Bakura, throwing the dark spirit backwards. His life points decreased to 100 and he gasped as his strength was drained from him.

"I'll place this card facedown and end my turn," said Yako, slotting the card into his disk. "One question, Bakura – if that is your real name," he said. "You're like the Pharaoh, aren't you? A spirit taking over the body of an innocent boy…"

"My host doesn't get any say in what I want," replied Bakura flippantly. "He's useful, nothing more."

Yako gritted his teeth. "Your Shadow Game is destroying him."

"He should be proud that he's donating his energy to me," commented Bakura, drawing his next card. "Now, I activate Polymerization!" he declared. He held up two cards from his hand. "Now I can fuse my Headless Knight with my Earl of Demise to create the Duke of Demise!" he declared. (2000/1700) A skull-headed fiend in ragged clothes appeared, holding a cutlass.

"I play my facedown trap card!" declared Yako. "Junk Dealer! Now the components of your fusion monster become mine!" The card flipped up, and glowed. A blue-skinned corpse, clothed in scarlet and clutching a sabre crawled out of the ground, followed by a headless suit of armour. (2000/700), (1450/1700)

Bakura snarled, and pointed at Barbaros. "Now, Duke of Demise, attack Beast King Barbaros!" he declared. The rotting fiend charged, and swung its blade, splitting Barbaros in two and shattering it. Yako winced as his life points decreased to 1900.

Bakura slotted two cards angrily into his disk. "I'll place these two cards face down on the field," he said. "That ends my turn."

Yako drew his card. He looked at it, then at another card in his hand, and power rushed through him, filling the void left by the Shadow Game. He added the card to his hand, and selected another card. "I activate the Photon Lead spell card," he said. "I summon one light attribute monster from my hand with four stars or less." He selected a card. "I choose Daybreaker!" he declared. The sable-caped ivory-armoured knight appeared. (1700/0) Yako flashed his shark-like grin, and held up another card. "Now I sacrifice all three of my monsters!" he yelled. The three monsters vanished in a whirlwind as Yako placed the card in his duel disk.

A black spot formed in midair and expanded into the Wicked Avatar. (?/?)

"Look at this monster, Bakura," warned Yako. "It's the twin to the monster that Marik Ishtar used to defeat you – The Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Bakura gasped in shock. "This creature is as powerful as Ra?" he gasped.

"Now do you see?" asked Yako. "I've won! You can't defeat me now! Watch as the God takes on the form of the most powerful monster on the field!"

The form of the Wicked Avatar shifted into a black skinned corpse in ragged clothes, clutching a cutlass. (2001/2001)

And then Bakura burst out laughing. "Hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Tenma, did you really think I hadn't learned from my mistakes after I was defeated _twice_ by the Egyptian Gods?" He smiled, and Yako flinched at the level of evil in that smile that would make the most sadistic beings in existence suffer.

Yako bolted his fear down, and slid another card into his disk. "Next I play Monster Reborn!" he declared. "Now I'll summon a monster from the graveyard!" He drew a card out from his graveyard, and placed it beside the Wicked Avatar's card.

Red lightning erupted from the ground as the aqua skinned, bone sheathed form of the Wicked Dreadroot emerged with a roar. (4000/4000)

"Another Wicked God monster?!" cried Bakura in fear.

"Wicked Dreadroot! Fear Domination!" yelled Yako. Dreadroot tensed, and the attack points of the Duke of Demise fell to 1000.

"What did your monster just do?!" asked Bakura in shock.

"The special ability of the Wicked Dreadroot halves the attack and defence points of every other monster on the field!" explained Yako.

"Haven't you just crippled your own Wicked God monster then?" asked Bakura.

"No," said Yako. "The Wicked Avatar _always_ has the highest power on the field – the attack points of the strongest monster on the field _plus one_." He laughed as the form of the Wicked Avatar dissolved and reformed into a black copy of the Wicked Dreadroot.

Bakura cursed. _One point, one single point…but it makes all the difference, _he thought grimly.

Yako raised his arm. "Whatever trap cards you have set are useless!" he declared. "My Wicked God cards are immune to such effects!" He pointed at Duke of Demise. "Wicked Dreadroot!" he yelled. "Attack his monster with Fierce Knockdown!"

Dreadroot clenched its fist and threw a massive punch at Duke of Demise.

"Game over, Bakura!" yelled Yako.

"You fool!" replied Bakura. "The game is only just beginning!" He touched a button on his disk. "Now I activate the trap card known as Draining Shield!" he declared. "This trap card cancels your attack and raises my life points by the value of the attack points of the monster that attacked!" He laughed as a rush of energy flowed into him, restoring him to 4100 life points.

Yako grimaced. "Keh!" he muttered. "I've still got one more God card left!" he warned. "Wicked Avatar, attack Duke of Demise with Dark Fierce Knockdown!" he yelled. The black Dreadroot launched a titanic punch at the Duke of Demise, and this time, the attack connected.

Bakura howled as he felt the power of the Wicked God monsters strike. He fell to his knees as his life points dropped to 1099.

Yako's lip curled. _His Duke can't be destroyed by battle, but at least I'm shaving some life points off him. _"I place one card facedown," he said, slotting it into his disk. "Then I end my turn. And as spell effects only last for one turn against a Wicked God card, the Wicked Dreadroot returns to the graveyard."

Dreadroot sank into the ground behind Yako, ever the stoic, and Duke of Demise straightened up as Dreadroot's fear power evaporated, while the Wicked Avatar took the form of the Duke of Demise once again.

"I have the Wicked Avatar on my field," said Yako. "You can't win."

Bakura gave a low chuckle. "You really think so, foolish mortal?!" he screamed. He drew, and Yako took a step back.

_What the – what is with that card he just drew?_, thought Yako in shock.

Bakura smiled. "I pay the cost to maintain my Duke – 500 life points," he said. His life points decreased to 599. "And now I'll sacrifice my Duke of Demise to summon this monster!" he declared, placing the card into his disk.

Duke of Demise vanished, and a new monster appeared in its place. It was a grey skinned fiend with a serpent tail in place of its legs, a face that was as hardened as that of Bakura himself, and two pairs of small wings – one at the hips and one at the shoulders.

"I summon Diabound Kernel!" declared Bakura. (1800/1200)

The Wicked Avatar shifted into a black version of Diabound, and the two fiends faced off.

"You might have summoned a new monster, but Avatar is still more powerful than it!" warned Yako.

"Not until I seal it in stone – with this card, Grief Tablet!" declared Bakura.

Avatar squirmed in pain and shock, until it vanished into the aged tablet that had appeared behind it, and an outline of an orb appeared on the tablet.

"While it's there, any of its powers are useless!" laughed Bakura. "Destroying that tablet is the only way that you'll get the Wicked Avatar out of there! Although, you'll suffer a 500 point penalty for doing so!" _I can't lose. When I destroy the Wicked Avatar, my Diabound will duplicate and absorb its power. And even if he tries to destroy his own card, I've got Curse of Royal facedown – and I can stop the destruction effect there and then. _He smiled as he thought to himself. _The energy that this Shadow Game has been siphoning off for Diabound hasn't been all that bad either. This Tenma fellow has been excellent!_

"Diabound!" yelled Bakura. "Attack his Wicked Avatar with Helical Shockwave!" Diabound raised its hands and blasted a shockwave of energy at the tablet.

_Now!_, yelled Yako and the Wicked Avatar. "I activate the spell card, Mystic Wok!" he declared.

"What?" asked Bakura in horror.

"This spell allows me to sacrifice a monster and gain life points equal to its attack or defence value, and I choose the Wicked Avatar!" explained Yako.

The tablet shattered, and the stone fragments slammed into Yako, dropping him to 1400 life points as the black form of Diabound vanished in a flash of light.

Bakura looked at Yako furiously. "You'll pay for that," he warned. "Diabound, finish him off!"

Diabound blasted a wave of energy at Yako, and Yako felt himself drift away as his life points decreased to zero.

Diabound faded away, and Bakura stared at Yako. He walked over to him, and reached for his deck, but a wave of black energy blasted the dark spirit back.

Bakura growled and then groaned as three presences entered his mind.

_Leave, now,_ warned the voice of the Avatar. Backed up by the presences of Dreadroot and Eraser, they seemed to tower over Bakura, despite his own considerable power.

Diabound appeared behind Bakura. _Do you know who I am?_, he warned the Wicked Gods.

_That is why we are ordering you to leave_, declared the Avatar. _Now go!_

Power blasted Bakura away, and black smoke shrouded Yako Tenma in a cocoon. Bakura backed into the elevator, and slammed his hand onto the button for the ground floor.

_Well, that was more dangerous than I anticipated_, thought Bakura. _I couldn't really resist when I found out about this guy. _He chuckled. _At least I have my original plan to go with. Let's go to KaibaCorp and pay Seto a visit._

**Don't worry, Yako's fine, the Wicked Gods both prevented their capture and a Penalty Game. **

**And here we are. The end of Yu-Gi-Oh! ORichalcos, and the probable end of my involvement with Yu-Gi-Oh! R. I'll still keep writing – I expect that Dissidia will take up the rest of the year, and then hopefully I can start my own Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction with my own original characters. It's already in the making (in my wee little mind, anyway.)**

**So goodbye, thanks for reading, and even if you're dissatisfied with this chapter, please review it and tell me why! **

**Cheers, everyone.**

**Sanokal.**


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